CHAPTER 18
Kalin
“Am I alive?” asked Shiro.
“No,” said Kalin, rising to his feet. Shiro was lying flat on his back on the riverbank. “You’re dead.”
Rina’s head popped up from under a mound of dirt. “Did we kill the babies?”
“Yeah,” said Kalin, helping Marante stand. “Let’s clean up in the river.”
“Are you sure there aren’t any babies in there?” asked Rina.
“I am not sensing any life forms,” said Marante.
“Good,” said Shiro, and he dove into the water.
Kalin walked in up to his boot cuffs, keeping an eye on Rina, who was swimming about.
There’s something in her I can’t place, he said to Marante in his mind. I know she’s lying.
Marante answered, You must believe me when I say she is telling the truth, but alas, there is something else my telepathy cannot reach.
Ha! So I was right, thought Kalin with a smile.
A low whirring sound came from down the tunnel.
“What is that?” asked Kalin.
Shiro splashed out of the river as if being chased. “Is it another monster? Do we have to run again?”
“It is plausible,” said Marante, standing drenched next to Kalin. “You really must adjust your thoughts about running.”
“I hate running,” said Shiro.
“Shh, listen,” said Rina beside him as she squeezed the water from her long hair. “It sounds like purring.”
Kalin slipped the white handle from his boot. He held it up in the air and watched Rina’s eyes open wide as the branches weaved out, forming the silver blade.
“It’s a Norin Blade,” he said quietly, hoping to intimidate her. “It’ll start cutting three inches from your skin.”
“Can I hold it?” she asked, mesmerized at the sight.
“No,” he said in disappointment. “You can’t be trusted. Marante, ready your Barra.”
Rina glared at him with vicious eyes.
A little more and she’ll break, he thought.
A little more and you may not have the items needed for procreation, said Marante.
Kalin eyed him concerned. What’s that mean?
Keep up your antagonizing and you will see. He could hear Marante's laughter.
“I think the purrs are getting louder,” said Rina.
“Great,” said Shiro, his voice echoing. “It’s probably more running.”
“Shh!” they said together at him.
The four began creeping along the wall. The tunnel expanded to a wide cavern with a straight cliff on their left. They tiptoed to the edge and peeked down. At the bottom of the crevasse, two train-sized millipedes were entwined and softly purring. Their brown bodies hosted hundreds of legs, ten to each of their many segments. The larger insect on top was pulsing.
“Wow,” said Shiro. “They’re doing it.”
“That’s gross,” said Rina, turning around.
“What’s wrong?” asked Kalin. “Never had sex before?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“It might do you some good,” he said. The Norin blade liquefied back into its handle and he stuffed it back into his boot.
“Shut up, jerk,” she said.
“Now you’re getting nasty.”
Kalin twisted her arm behind her back and wrapped his other arm around her waist.
“What are you not telling me?” he asked, wrenching her arm a little harder.
“Stop!” she said. “You’re hurting me.”
“Tell me the truth,” he said, sniffing her hair. She even smells good.
“I am telling the truth,” she said, squirming. “I’m an Earth-human for Pete’s sake. I didn’t know people existed outside my world until five hours ago.”
He let her go and pushed her away.
“You’re a real psycho,” she said, rubbing her arm. “I’ll bet the only women you can get are brainless morons who can’t read.”
Marante busted out laughing. “She already knows you.”
“Rina, look at this,” said Shiro, his attention still on the mating creatures. “They’re beginning to separate.”
“At least they’re real women,” said Kalin, “not the kind that muscle up to you. Ilya is more of a woman than you’ll ever be.”
“Can she count to ten?”
Kalin glared with evil eyes. Truth is, a Tàtress didn’t have the mental capacity to assimilate mathematics, something with the brains inability. But Ilya was kind and gentle, and Kalin was glad to have her as a companion. She’d eased his pain many nights and although it was customary for Saleran males to have only one wife, he would change that, making her one of his many wives. Rina on the other hand was mouthy and obnoxious and despite the fact he had never hit a woman, one slap would make him very happy. He felt Marante’s stare.
I will not allow that, he said in Kalin’s mind. No more bickering.
Leave me alone, Kalin said, annoyed at Marante’s intrusion.
“You have got to see this,” Shiro said, waving at them to come.
The three joined Shiro at the edge of the cliff. The writhing male millipede suddenly detached from its female partner. Black legs wriggled against its tan-colored underside. As it rolled onto its back, a twelve-foot bright red penis disjoined, ejaculating sperm. A thick spurt flew up into the air. Rina, Kalin, and Marante jumped away. Shiro got splattered.
His hair and clothes were drenched in gray sperm. He raised his trembling hands. Rina doubled over laughing.
“This is not funny,” said Shiro. “I’m...I’m going to throw up.” He bent forward and made several dry heaves.
She covered her mouth, attempting to stop. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice a higher pitch, “but it’s only sperm. It’s not infected.”
“Okay,” he said, “want some?”
He swung a wad of semen at her. Rina quickly moved away and the jelly-like substance splashed onto the rock wall behind her, sticking to it like glue.
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m going to tell everyone you got spermed by a bug.”
“I will kill you,” said Shiro through gritted teeth. “I’m still nauseous and I don’t need your jokes.”
“You are mine,” she said with a strange accent, “to torture as I please.”
Kalin smiled and shook his head. “You both are too much. Shiro, I have something to help you with that.”
He reached inside his vest pocket and removed a Sarvin pouch. He dropped a few orange crystals on Shiro’s head and watched them twinkle down his body.
“They’re called Sarvin Crystals,” he said, happy to see Rina’s mouth drop open. “They remove dirt and heal cuts.”
“You mean you deliberately let me stand there covered in scorpion blood?” she demanded.
Kalin chuckled. “Yep. I figured you needed a good humbling.”
Rina lunged for him but Marante stretched out his long arm and stopped her. “Calm down, my lady,” he said, struggling to hold her. “We must remain level-headed to save your world, please. Kalin, apologize to her.”
“No way,” he said. “Remember, sweetheart, I always win.” He went into a full-blown belly laugh again.
A sticky sludge hit Kalin in the face. He began coughing and choking on the slime he inadvertently swallowed. Rina was standing stiff, sneering at him with sperm dripping from her hand. The rock face behind her was clean. He dropped to all fours and puked.
“Can your Sarvin Crystals remove your stomach contents?” she said.
Kalin jumped to his feet and rushed towards her. “You—”
Marante blocked his way. “That was well deserved.” He snatched the bag from Kalin’s hand and poured a few crystals on his head.
Kalin closed his eyes, anxious for them to finish so he could throw her off the cliff. His patience was gone, but Vorkis was still free, so he couldn’t do it.
“I won’t forget this,” he said, spitting the words through clenched teeth.
/>
“Good,” she said. “Now you know how it feels to be totally grossed.”
She approached him and stepped onto a small boulder in front of him. She latched onto his black vest and pulled him close. He couldn’t believe her audacity.
This girl has absolutely no fear of me.
“I’m sorry, Kalin,” she said, her voice soft and surprisingly caring. “What you swallowed was horrible and it’s making me sick.”
He stepped back, shocked by her apology. Her crème-colored skin had to be soft as silk and the thick, black lashes surrounding her aqua-green eyes made them seem to glow. She was truly a natural beauty. He sighed, disappointed he couldn’t hit her.
“I wouldn’t worry too much,” said Shiro, staring at the regurgitated food. “It’s there on the floor.”
Rising above the partially ingested pile was the jellied clump of gray sperm. Kalin took the sack from Marante’s hand and gulped down a bunch of the orange crystals. Popping sensations ran all the way into his stomach. From down the passageway they heard a boom, then a clang followed by a low hum.
“It sounds like Xeon Diffusers,” said Marante, addressing Rina and Shiro. “They are the machines dredging this core.”
“Let’s go,” said Kalin. He couldn’t let this beauty overtake him. “The sooner we get this mission done, the better.”
He hurried away from the crowd, irritated he let a twirpy woman get to him.
Look beyond her stubbornness, said Marante in Kalin’s mind. You are just as pig-headed.
You didn’t swallow that crap.
No, but you were not covered in insect viscera either, replied Marante.
I don’t want to discuss this anymore, said Kalin.
Rina suddenly appeared beside him. “You were wrong not to help me, Kalin,” she said. “I need an apology.”
Kalin stopped walking and focused on her eyes. She meant every word.
“Okay,” he said, eager to shut her up. “I’m sorry for not using the Sarvins on you but if you ever do anything like that again, I’ll hit you so hard you’ll be seeing triple the rest of your life. Got it?”
“Marante’s right,” she said, smirking. “We have to stop fighting if we’re going to save this world.”
“It’s about time you smartened up,” he said.
“Excuse me, but you started it,” she said. “Listen, it’s obvious I don’t like you and you don’t like me, so let’s be mature and just move on.”
“Fine,” he said, picking up his pace. Just one slap. “Now stop talking.”
She was still there. “I’ll change the subject.” Her voice was lighter now, not so tough.
“Don’t you ever shut up?” he asked, aggravated she’d ignored his last comment.
“I never shut up,” she said, grinning. “How are we going to become friends if we don’t talk?”
“I don’t want to be your friend,” Kalin said in frustration.
“You really aren’t used to women like me, are you?”
Her roguish smile peeved him some more.
“No. A woman is supposed to be quiet and submissive, not stubborn and annoying.”
“Ah, yes,” she said. “Brainless morons who can’t count to ten.”
Kalin was ready to slam her with an insult when she continued, “But I guess everyone has his own taste. One day I’m going to find a man whose brain is not in his pants.”
Shiro cleared his throat, waving his hand. “Over here, piglet. You met one over seven years ago.”
“You don’t count, sperm boy.”
“Quit calling me sperm boy, hemorrhoid.”
Kalin listened to the two discuss Rina’s man type. They argued like a real brother and sister, calling each other names and using put-downs. Kalin felt remorse. He never fought with his brothers, even common wrestling amongst siblings was considered hostile, a factor he blatantly resisted as a child, thereby receiving many punishments. Living in the House of Altor was confining and the Laws of Ethilia were oppressing. He’d gotten to a point where insanity would’ve overtaken him if he hadn’t left. All he wanted was a normal life but being of Saleran royal blood, it couldn’t happen.
“I’m done talking to you, shmohawk,” said Rina. “Kalin, is Vorkis’ physique similar to yours?”
“Yes, but I got to say this,” said Kalin, “you don’t respect Shiro very much, do you?”
She tilted her head and gazed at him oddly. “That’s the way we are. If he didn’t fight with me, something would be wrong.” She glanced back at Shiro. “Right?”
“Yeah,” said Shiro. “It’s the way we get along. I’m always right and she’s always wrong.”
“In your dreams,” she said, then turned to Kalin. “I don’t mean to step out of line, but it seems to me the battle between you and Vorkis will end with one of you dead, so why take the chance if your race depends on you for survival?”
Wrong question. The steam of rage rose up into his nostrils. “I am so tired of people not understanding. Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch your family die?”
“Yes,” she said. “My mother and I were in a country called Chile when an 8.5 earthquake occurred. The stone shack we were in collapsed. The local natives freed us but she died in my arms.”
“Are you an only child?” asked Kalin.
“Yes, unfortunately,” she said. “I was adopted.”
“So they’re not your real parents.”
“No, they’re not,” she answered, perturbed, “but I still love them. Get real, Kalin, your reasoning is stupid.”
He clamped his hands around her upper arms and lifted her off the floor. He expected to see fear, but instead her body was rigid, her eyes were filled with determination.
“Picture this, Princess,” he said. “Your father is lying on the floor rotting. Your little sister is in your arms screaming in agony as her body parts fall off in your hands. Imagine standing on the balcony of your home and listening to thousands of people crying as a flesh-eating virus kills every person on the planet, leaving only you alive.” He pulled her closer, nose-to-nose. “Until you’ve done that, don’t tell me not to avenge their deaths.”
Her eyes crinkled in pity, and he backed her away, slowly putting her down. She had an enormous amount of compassion, more than what he had.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” she said, “and I understand how that could change a person’s thinking. But Kalin,” she added, gently holding his arm, “their memories, their lives, live in you. If you die, you’ll be killing them again. Don’t risk that. Don’t give in to Vorkis.”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” he yelled. He yanked his arm away. “Are you stupid like everyone else?”
“If everyone is saying the same thing,” she said calmly, “we can’t all be wrong.”
“You are wrong!” he shouted. “Vorkis is going to die at any cost. This conversation is over.” He stormed away.
“Even Earth?” she said loudly. Her voice echoed in his ears. “I mean, what if it comes down to Vorkis or Earth, Kalin? Would we lose?”
Kalin refused to acknowledge her. How dare a primitive Earth-human question him? Their vile history proved their race knew nothing of justice.
“Kalin, wait!” yelled Marante. Grudgingly he turned around. “What?”
Marante approached him, busily studying the miniature holos on the scanner. Rina and Shiro followed.
“Since the beginning, I had configured the scanner to find the source of the REM signal and thus Vorkis’ Command Center,” said Marante. “When we met Rina and Shiro, the scanner lost its primary function because its signal was being disrupted by something more powerful. I reconfigured the unit for Pril.” He showed Kalin the holo. “You were correct.”
Kalin glowered at Rina. Got her! He clinched her upper arms, swung her body around and slammed her against the rock wall. Her head wobbled deliriously.
“Where’s Vorkis?” he screamed. In an outrage, he bashed her body against the wall again. “Where
is he?” he shouted in her face.
“Ow! What?” she said, shaking her head trying to clear her thoughts. “Are you crazy?”
“He gave you the Pril to throw us off his trail.” He squeezed her arms tighter. “Where is he?”
“What are you talking about?” she said, squirming to free herself. “Let me go! You’re hurting me!”
“Kalin!” demanded Marante. “It is enough!”
Kalin shook his head. “She’s working for him and she dies here.”
He clamped one hand around her neck cutting off her airway and then pulled the Norin Blade from his boot. He held it up to her face and he watched her eyes widen in horror as the branches wove into a twelve-inch knife.
Shiro latched onto Kalin's arm, wrestling to free Rina. “I won’t let you hurt her. ”
Two white beams of light shot out of Kalin’s eyes and hit Shiro in the chest, sending him airborne and crashing into the far wall.
“You must stop, Kalin!” said Marante. “There is more.”
“What more could there be?” he said, tightening his grip on her neck. She was turning blue. “Anyone working for him is going to die.”
“I’m-not-working-for-him,” squeaked Rina.
“She is not an Earth-human,” said Marante. “There is no record of her life-form in our database.”
“What?” asked Kalin.
“Let her go!” yelled Shiro, who was getting to his feet.
Kalin momentarily stared at Rina and then released her. She fell to the floor gasping for air, clutching her throat. Shiro ran to her and helped her to sit.
“You’re just like Vorkis,” said Shiro, looking up at him. “Are you going to kill us too?”
“Explain, Marante,” said Kalin, ignoring Shiro’s comment.
Marante squatted beside Rina. “My lady, you are carrying Pril but I cannot pinpoint its location. Do you have anything in your pockets or perhaps some form of jewelry?”
Rina’s mouth gaped and she looked down at her chest. Her hand tightened around something beneath her red T-shirt.
“The necklace?” said Shiro.
She pulled out a large black pendant dangling on a jewel-encrusted chain. Kalin’s breath caught in his chest. The Pril was the size of a flattened egg.
“Where did you get that?” asked Marante.
“My mother was a volcanologist and found this after an eruption.”
“That is the purest and largest piece of Pril ever discovered,” said Marante, studying the scanner. “May I touch it?”
“Yes,” she said, “but I can’t take it off; it’s a promise.”
“You have my word I will not take it from you,” said Marante.
She nodded at him. He held the stone in his hand and immediately began making adjustments on the scanner.
“What exactly is Pril?” asked Shiro.
“Throughout history legend told of stones with enormous power,” said Marante. “One day it was accidentally discovered by a ship of younglings who decided to illegally use an asteroid field for target practice. They blasted an asteroid and the force of the explosion incinerated them and a nearby star system. Up until the present, only grains of Pril have been found. I never thought I would ever see a piece this size.”
“What makes you think I’m not an Earth-human?” asked Rina.
“You have internal organs that are inexplicable,” said Marante. “Do you have any recollection of your home world?”
Rina’s inward emotions told Kalin she really was innocent.
“No,” she said, confused. “I...I only know Earth.”
“I knew it,” said Shiro. “She’s probably British too.”
“Knock it off,” said Rina. “This is serious.” She turned to Marante. “The scanner has got to be broken.”
“It was malfunctioning,” said Marante. “But since I reconfigured it, the unit is working perfectly.”
“It has to be wrong,” she said. “I have to be human...an...an Earth-human.” Her bottom lip was quivering.
Kalin saw her disillusionment and sensed her frustration. Distraught, he leaned back on the wall, holding his forehead. For the first time in his life, he almost murdered an innocent person because he let an evil man dominate his thoughts. Was Shiro right? Was he just like Vorkis? The thought made him nauseous. He had to be better than Vorkis. Clear thinking and control were imperative if victory was his goal. Now, however, due to his own stupidity, he had to suck in his pride and apologize to the most annoying back-talking brat he’d ever met.
Life sucks, he thought.
“It explains a lot of things, Rina,” said Shiro. “Like why your IQ is off the scale, and sometimes I swear you can read my mind. Who knew all this time I’ve been hanging with E.T. I think it’s great.”
“I...I guess it’s okay,” she said, uncertainty in her voice. “It does explain a lot of things. But why they didn’t tell me? I was told my real parents died in a plane crash. How could they lie to me?”
“Your civilization harbors a mortal fear of the unknown,” said Marante. “What do you think they would have done to a child from another planet? I dare not think about it. And perhaps it was their space craft that crashed, therefore not a lie.”
“You’re not alone,” said Kalin, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. “You’re an alien on this world, but not beyond its barriers.”
Shiro pushed his hand off. “Don’t touch her,” he demanded.
Shiro’s angry stare told him he meant it and even though he was an easy take, Kalin decided to respect his wishes. After all, he’d messed up big time with Rina.
“I’m sorry, Shiro, for hurting you,” said Kalin, “and I’m sorry, Rina, for not trusting you and being a total jerk.”
“Apology accepted,” said Shiro, grinning. “Now, what the heck came out of your eyes?”
“They’re called Xevniors,” answered Kalin, “an energy ray only Saleran men possess and the reason why I’m the only one who can defeat Vorkis.”
Kalin noted Rina’s growing acceptance of her newly discovered heritage, her mind thinking, reasoning on the situation. She was a strong, decisive individual willing to acknowledge change. A true scientist.
Shiro helped her to stand. “So, do you think your real parents were aliens and Justin and Mary adopted you?”
She gazed at him momentarily, then answered, “No, I think my mother, Mary, was the alien and my dad took us in after our spaceship crashed. My father never spoke to me about astronomy but I’ve always felt there was something different about Mom. Even though she was a volcanologist, she had a special love for the cosmos. And remember the look in her eyes when she told us the stories? It was as if she’d been there and I wonder now if they were real experiences.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” said Shiro.
She turned to Kalin and put her hands on her hips. “So, are you through being a jerk?”
The twirp was going to nail him. “Yes...,” he glanced away, the shame was overwhelming. There has to be a way out of this. “Can we move on now?”
“Absolutely not,” she said. “I need an apology from you and you have to mean it. So...on your knees, Kalin of Salera.”
“What? I will not get on my knees, squirt, forget it.”
“You’ve insulted me, covered me in scorpion gunk, accused me of working for your enemy, almost knifed me and, oh, let’s not forget nearly breaking my arm and choking me to death. I think those things demand a humble apology, don’t you?”
Kalin turned away, rolling his eyes. This was payback. Marante was nodding his head.
You must comply, said Marante.
I really miss Ilya, he said in his mind.
There was no choice; he had to do it. He slowly faced her again and went down on one knee at a time. It was by far the most humiliating, agonizing, torturous situation he’d ever gotten himself into. And the smirk on her face made it worse.
“I’m sorry for everything,” he said. “I should’ve trusted you.”
/> With a coy smile, she stroked his right cheek. Her hand was warm and soft, her eyes gentle and caring. Without warning, her fist bashed his left jaw. His head spun to the right and he almost lost his balance, catching himself with both hands on the ground. He pushed himself back up to his knees and glared at her.
“Apology accepted,” she said grinning.
Kalin leapt to his feet, pointing his finger in her face. “I wouldn’t have hit you.”
“You deserved it,” she said, smacking his hand away, “so suck it up and quit being a baby.”
He heard Marante chuckle.
“Tell me, my lady, what kind of stories did your mother tell?”
“She was so cool,” said Shiro. “We would climb this big tree and....”
“Wait!” she said, clutching Shiro’s arm, her eyes scrunched in worry. “The box.”
“Oh crap,” said Shiro.
Rina grabbed Kalin’s vest with both hands. “I have to get to my house in Colorado now, this moment, or it’s all over.”
“Why?” asked Kalin, gently removing her desperate grip, watching the anxiety grow on her face.
“My mother had given me a big stone box and in it was more Pril. She had to know what it was because I had to swear to keep it hidden and never leave the cover open. If Vorkis finds it, we’re done. The piece of Pril is bigger than the size of a basketball.”
Kalin felt the hairs on his arms straighten. “Are you sure it’s Pril?”
“Yes,” she said. “My mom said it was the same ore as the pendant.”
Kalin turned to Marante. “If this planet implodes, the energy released would cause a black hole big enough to devour this quadrant of the galaxy.”
Just then, the air rumbled and the tunnel violently shook. Rina stumbled into Shiro’s arms and they fell backwards onto the ground. The earthen floor beneath Kalin began spreading apart; a second later, he and Marante were screaming as they plummeted down a dark crevasse.