Adventures in Parodyverse:  Zephiir’s Prophecy, Part 2




    Caph was a desert planet.  That posed special challenges to an imported race of people who came from a planet with a very large percentage of water on its surface.  Being hot as well, their home was constantly besieged by violent rain storms, and its people adapted.


    Shen Rae missed those storms.  She missed the rains.  On Caph, there were wind and dust storms, but no almost no rain.  Its only water sources were heavily rationed, until its people learned to live on very little of it.


    Months passed since Kiivan invited her people to live on Caph.  Shen Rae chose for them to live outside the city, to farm the land and use ingenuity in order to survive.  Ingenuity that caused them to discover a rich aquifer of water hundreds of kilometers beneath the surface, and to raise thriving water-thrifty tropical trees resembling the palms of Earth, grains, and some fruits and vegetables.


    They had not yet told the Caphans about the water source because it had a very high mineral content, such that the Caphans could not tolerate it.  It was distasteful to Shen Rae too, but the trees seemed to like it just fine.  They would produce fruits with the sweetest of juices to drink.


    Most amusing of all was that her people, nameless for decades, in order to hide their identity, had finally been given a name by the Caphan people.  Ke’Tan, or travelers.  It was not a derogatory term, but rather one that went back to the roots of Caphan society, as nomads wandering the planet’s many deserts.


    And so Shen Rae kneeled in the sand between the thirty foot high trees and drank the something like the pineapple juice of earth from a small, oddly shaped glass bought at the Caphan market.  Off to the east, a mountain towered over the Ke’Tan village.  It’s magnetic iron core gave them both partial shelter from surveillance from above, and inside a large cave within, hid Shen Rae’s idled ship from detection.


    Long left behind was her corporate uniform.  Instead she wore loosely fitting fabric that wrapped around her entire body.  It was Caphan fabric, light, brightly colored, and designed to keep the wearer cool and comfortable.  Paired with that were sandals made from distinctively non-caphan synthetic materials for the sake of longevity.


    She smiled as she watched a silver-haired man from her colony use the strength given to him by the same genetic gifts she had to rapidly climb one of the trees to harvest hard-shelled fruits resembling coconuts.


    Life was good, though not as easy as it was where they came from.  It was worth it, though.  Except Shen Rae couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the opening chapter, not the closing one - there would be harder times ahead.


    Someone working outside called for her, and she looked up.  Coming toward the village was a caravan she clearly recognized as Kiivan, plus a group of attendants and soldiers he always brought with him when he left the capital city.  Kiivan hadn’t visited in months.  She supposed that was an expression of trust.


    She picked up the flask of fruit juice, and reached into the bag she had with her for a second oddly shaped glass.  When Kiivan arrived a minute later, she offered him a glass of the Ke’Tan village’s greatest offering.


    Kiivan tasted it, and then smiled.  “Truly the nectar of the gods.”  he said.  


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You could have sent for me.”  Shen Rae pointed out.  “I could have taken my shuttle to the capital, it’s a much shorter journey that way.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“That’s so impersonal.”  Kiivan replied with a laugh.  “Besides, the daily grind at the palace becomes tedious at times.  It’s good to get away.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Yet you’re here on business.”  Shen Rae noted.  “I can see it in your eyes, and hear it in your voice.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s nothing to be concerned about.”  Kiivan reassured her.  “But something you should, by all rights, be told.  Your Trading Alliance sent a representative to the Palace.  They were attempting to locate you.”


    Shen Rae’s contented smile vanished instantly.  “They know we’re here?”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Kiivan responded.  “The questions he asked were far too specific.  He guessed at the possibility you’re here, I think, but could not prove it.”


    She became more alarmed at that point, and sat up.  “Do you know if they’re still in orbit?  Or nearby?”  If they were, they could do a genetic scan of the planet’s surface.  Hopefully, the magnetic mountains nearby would interfere with the scan, but that wasn’t guaranteed.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“My scientists tell me they are not.”  Kiivan said.  “But after seeing your ship, it’s quite possible they are using the same stealth shield.”


    Kiivan was smart, Shen Rae thought to herself.  That’s exactly what a Trading Alliance ship would do.


    She motioned for him to follow, and she led Kiivan through the grove of trees.  His personal guards, ordered to remain at a distance, were visibly nervous.  


    The trees finally gave way to a small home in traditional Caphan desert style - singular, flat sloped roof, curved upward at its sharp peaks, covered with sand to reflect the sun, and long overhangs with small, recessed windows.  Only three sides had ‘treasure-glass’ golden tinted windows, the fourth side was the roof wrapped to the ground to protect against violent sandstorms.  It was all designed to stay cool in the hot midday sun, and safe during storms.


    When Kiivan entered, he was surprised to note that the house interior was much cooler than outdoors.  As simple as it appeared, it had climate control.  A slight breeze passed over his feet - a system to vacuum away sand, through what looked like some sort of porous rubber material on the floor next to the door.    


    Shen Rae pulled a portable terminal out of a plain-looking wooden cabinet that slid open, and put the device on a small, round table between the open kitchen and dining room.  


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s that?”  Kiivan asked, as he looked around at her home.  It was furnished sparsely, yet comfortably, like her quarters aboard her ship.  Except here on Caph, she had a lot more fresh fruits and vegetables, in two baskets in her kitchen.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It has a link to my ship, which is watching for Trading Alliance communication.  There should not be any nearby, so if there is, there may be a ship hiding out there.  Especially if it’s supposed to report back.”


    Kiivan laughed and shook his head as he watched Shen Rae work.  “The technology you have amazes me, Shen Rae.”  he said.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You can’t fool me.”  Shen Rae laughed too.  “You have interesting technology of your own.  You just hide it well.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Hide it?”  he raised an eyebrow at that.  “No.  Caph simply decided not to let technology take control of our lives.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“They are out there.”  Shen Rae noted, looking at the display in front of her again.  “I just recorded a burst transmission, encrypted.  They’re probably surveying this planet right now.”


    She got up quickly and grabbed a small portable device, that looked a lot like a communications bracelet she once gave Kiivan, and traced a few gestures on the display.  “I’m alerting the others,”  she said.  “In case we have to mobilize.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Mobilize?”  Kiivan’s smile disappeared.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We’re not going to let Caph fight for us alone.”  Shen Rae told him.  “I...don’t want to be responsible for any sort of death toll.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Only if you promise not to leave us on the sidelines.”  Kiivan offered.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Agreed.”  Shen Rae bowed slightly, and slapped the device over her wrist.  It molded perfectly to her arm.  “Now, we wait.”




---




    The coded message sent by the cloaked Trading Alliance caravan, parked a respectable distance from Caph to avoid detection, arrived at Company headquarters.  They weren’t soldiers, they were simply contracted to gather information for the Galactic Government.  It was a task that paid well.


    Interview with the ruler of Caph revealed a lack of knowledge.  He appeared certain there were no non-Caphans on his planet.  A survey of the surface from above, done quickly to avoid suspicion, showed a strange colony far from any large city, surrounded by a thick grove of trees.  On a water poor planet, that grove had to be engineered to grow that way.


    Yet, the life signs there were not clear enough to be identifiable.  All those trees gave off life energy too, and it seemed whoever lived among them either kept close enough to them that the echo of the tree circulatory systems interfered with the ones of people.  If it was done purposely, it was a very clever trick indeed.


    But the Company wasn’t contracted to do ground investigations.  They were only contracted to do an interview and scan.  They would note the village as suspicious - but they would have to wait for the military arrive to research further.




---




    Shen Rae awoke to a knock at her door in the morning.  She answered in a robe, and was greeted by Kiivan’s private guard.  They asked her to accompany them to the palace, thought they allowed her to get dressed first.


    As asked, Shen Rae changed into her more formal looking black charcoal, sparkling fabric, form-fitting outfit that she first arrived on the planet with.  It had become a sort of ‘official business’ look, since the rest of her wardrobe had become extremely formal and adapted to the climate of Caph.


    Before she left her home, she also changed her skin and eyes to a medium green, as well as her hair.  Just as she promised Kiivan, since she was about to visit a Caphan city.  She didn’t want to change her appearance in transit, and shock the guards and staff.


    Kiivan told her only the day before that the official caravan he took using labor animals and chariots, though slow, was traditional on Caph, but that they did have faster transportation.  This was the first time she had seen an example of it.


    The guard arrived in a vehicle designed for desert transportation.  It was a luxurious vehicle which floated on huge springs strung between oversized tracks.  This was likely to move fast over the desert sands, yet maintain a comfortable ride.


    It was a very large vehicle, also intended to move a pretty decent number of guards and staff along with the V.I.P.’s it was designed to transport.  Two of those staff exited the vehicle and latched on a small staircase so Shen Rae could get in without climbing.  The wide door flipped up like a wing, but had fairly low clearance.


    Inside it was cooler than out, but not quite as cool as Shen Rae’s home.  She made no judgements about that - it was as likely that they hadn’t mastered climate control as it was that Caphans had little tolerance for it.


    The trip inside that strange vehicle was a long one.  Shen Rae tried to make small talk with some of the staff, as they pitched and rolled along sand dunes.  They weren’t following the usual winding roads, but were taking a more direct route.  Which meant time had become of the essence.


    Caph’s capital city didn’t appear in the distance.  It seemed to come out of nowhere, thanks to a combination of dust, sand dunes, a low-slung vehicle, and haze from the extreme heat.  The vehicle tore onto the wide main road through the city, and continued at its frantic pace toward the palace.


    That’s when Shen Rae began to notice...the streets were covered with loose sand, which was also in the air, and there were no people outside.  She guessed that perhaps a sandstorm was winding down, and it wasn’t as easy to detect inside the protection of a moving vehicle.


    But also, as they got closer to the palace, there was a increasing palpable urgency from the soldiers traveling with her that made her uneasy.  She began to suspect something was wrong, a feeling that peaked when the tractored vehicle, instead of stopping in front of the palace, drove around to the side, and up a staircase like it was some sort of assault.


    The guards filed out quickly.  Kiivan’s personal guards carried only one weapon - the plas’gar, a small dagger they’re trained to fight with like a Samurai on Earth is trained with a sword.  When they left the vehicle, they circled around, as if to check if the coast was clear.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Come, quickly.”  One of them told Shen Rae.


    Her smile was gone now as she followed them into the palace.  One of them remained behind to move the vehicle elsewhere.


    Inside the palace, things were silent.  It was as if everyone had gone into hiding somewhere.  There wasn’t much time to investigate though, because the guards rushed her through the halls quickly.  Finally, they stopped.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Kiivan has been imprisoned in his own dungeon.”  one of the guards quickly explained.  “The aliens...they came, and they wish to trade you for him.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You told them I was here?”  Shen Rae asked, her voice barely containing anger and fear.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  he said.  “We have denied your existence.  I snuck to the dungeon to free Kiivan...but he said to leave him there, or the aliens might take out their anger on the people of Caph.  He said to bring you here to free him.  Only you can fight off the aliens.”


    Shen Rae frowned, and nodded.  “Take me to him.”  she said.




TO BE CONTINUED?
    


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

Adventures in Parodyverse:  Zephiir’s Prophecy, Part 3




    Shen Rae raced downward through long, winding Caphan palace stairways, moving quickly.  She took one of the smaller, spiral stairways, not the wider grand staircase, because she didn’t want to run into anyone, whether friend or foe.  At worst, that could lead to an unwanted battle - at best, an unwanted distraction.


    That last stairway, however, was much more risky.  The dungeon was one level below the basement and cellar, and there was only one stairway in or out, for security reasons.


    Shen Rae reached under her sleeve and pulled off her bracelet.  It changed shape to a flat, smooth, rectangular saucer with rough treads on either side for grip.  One end had an ominous looking wide slot, which ever so slightly glowed blue.


    She silently and slowly inched down the stairs, careful not to make noise or cast an obviously moving shadow.  At the bottom was a rough stone floor which looked ancient, and like it was simply assembled - there were gaps between the stones.


    Then around a corner was the cells.  There was no security - Shen Rae wondered if, when Kiivan’s personal guards visited him, they handled the aliens watching the cell already.


    Kiivan rose and approached the bars as he saw someone approach.  In the dim lighting of the dungeon, he didn’t recognize her right away...until he saw the device in her hand.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How many are there?”  Shen Rae asked.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Just four.”  Kiivan replied quickly.  He nodded toward her hand.  “But they have those, and a shuttle outside.”


    She nodded.  “Stand back.”


    Kiivan did as asked, and watched Shen Rae rotate her hand in a circle across the top of the device, looking like she was adjusting it.  Then she aimed it at the metal lock, and pressed a button -  the device fired a narrow, continuous silent laser that cut through the metal lock of the cell in an instant.  She then adjusted it again, and slipped it behind her belt.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Time to go.”  she urged him.


    He paused to look at Shen Rae closely as he exited the cell.  She wore a body hugging charcoal fabric from the neck down, and boots, but her hands, face, eyes, and hair bore the likeness of a Caphan female.  If not for the clothing, and small differences, she could pass for a daughter of Caph.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Very nice.”  he complimented.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I did make a promise.”  Shen Rae replied with a nod.  “Follow me, we have to get you out.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, I can’t leave the palace.”  Kiivan refused.  “Abandoning the palace while there are intruders is like surrendering Caph.  Even if it’s for a short time.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I understand.”  Shen Rae nodded.  She took the device off of her belt again, flipped it over, and typed something.  The display on the bottom flashed something and then dimmed.  “I have a shuttle on the way.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It can fly itself?”  Kiivan asked as Shen Rae led him to the narrow staircase out of the dungeon.  “Fascinating.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s time I talked to you about something.”  she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.  “If the presence of my people is going to endanger Caph, I’d like to talk about sharing some of our defensive capabilities.”


    She suddenly stopped, and then pinned Kiivan against a wall just before a blast of plasma burned a hole in the stone wall beside them.  Shen Rae took the small, rounded device off of her belt and fired back up the stairs with a blast just as powerful.  It sent small pieces of stone rubble rolling down the stairs.


    Then she left Kiivan behind for a moment while she charged up the  stairway.  There was a dull ‘thump’, and a man in a silver and black uniform tumbled down the steps, unconscious.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Come on.”  Shen Rae urged Kiivan from the top of the stairs.


    This time, she didn’t sneak through the halls of the palace.  The firing of weapons made enough noise that she could hear shouts, and knew the intruders had been alerted to her presence, and probably the breakout as well.


    Instead, she kept checking the device she carried, and waited until it said the shuttle was on the other side of the wall.  Then she simply blasted a hole, providing means for escape.  The shuttle was floating just outside the hole.  


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We have to jump for it,”  she said.  “Don’t worry, we’re not leaving the palace.  There are weapons we can use to take control of it again.”


    Kiivan nodded.  He liked that plan.


    He was a little disappointed though, when he made the jump across to her shuttle, and was handed a single, silvery, long narrow stick with grip in the center.  


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s this?”  he asked.


    Shen Rae took it from him and demonstrated.  “An energy rifle, a club, or a sword.  Whichever you choose.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“How do I...?”


    She demonstrated quickly.  Its default configuration was a metallic rifle.  Pulling backward on the grip forced it to morph into a long, sharp blade for close combat.  The club was simple enough to make Kiivan feel unintelligent for asking - being made out of solid metal, and well balanced, the rifle itself could be used to hit someone.


    She handed him two more.  “For your personal guard, once you find them.  Hide them somewhere until you find them.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Wait...where will you be?”  Kiivan asked suddenly, realizing that Shen Rae seemed to be talking as if she wouldn’t be there.


    Shen Rae responded with a sly smile.  “I’ll be preparing a surprise.”




---




    The shuttle Shen Rae piloted was a sleek, silvery stub-winged spacecraft, the size of a mobile home on Earth.  It seemed to have no windows from the outside, moved with no sound, and could cloak itself to complete invisibility.


    She piloted it with a joystick control, like a fighter pilot.  That meant she could float it much like an extremely agile helicopter, around to the front of the palace.


    The joystick telescoped upward slightly, offering an array of buttons for weaponry.  She tapped the button on the top, auto-targeting the closest object in sight - her own shuttle’s near-twin, from the visiting Alliance.  There were two of them, which meant a ground force numbering as many as a dozen.


    Once she took aim at one of the two shuttles, her own shimmered with blue energy as the cloak dropped - to make her presence obvious and visible.  At the same time, she began jamming ground communications, while she opened fire.


    The one shuttle exploded, rocking the second one.  Windows on the palace shattered.  Just as Shen Rae anticipated, the Alliance crew raced outside to see what was going on.  She switched weapons to concussive energy pulse - it impacted the group of intruders and threw them against the building.


    Shen Rae pulled the joystick hard left, and then forward, accelerating rapidly away from the palace.


    As if on cue, Kiivan and his two best guards crashed through the entrance doors and trained their newly acquired weapons on the intruders that were left conscious.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You are now prisoners of Caph.”  Kiivan told them.  He looked at his guards.  “Get my soldiers out of the dungeon.  Tie up all of the intruders out here and strip them of weapons.  When they wake up, give them a choice:  They can leave peacefully in the remaining shuttle, or they can stay in the dungeon.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where is she?”  one of the guards asked, referring to Shen Rae.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Obviously she doesn’t want them to know she’s here.”  Kiivan whispered.  “We’re more than able to handle this ourselves, yes?”


    The two guards nodded in agreement, and one of them raced off to get more security soldiers, as asked.  He returned a few minutes later with a squad of tired-looking but eager guards armed with traditional daggers and staffs.  They began tying up the intruders.


    Kiivan, satisfied that he had regained control of the palace, set off to his quarters.  He knew exactly where Shen Rae would be.




---




    As soon as he arrived at his quarters, the door guard gave him an extra long nod.  That was a subtle signal, telling him that the guest he awaited was within.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We need to talk.”  Shen Rae said as soon as he entered, and the door was closed.  “If you’ll pardon my forwardness.”


    He nodded, and walked across the room to sit on the large cushion, on the foor, where he traditionally sat on when listening to important visitors.  Shen Rae knew the drill - she sat too, facing him.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’d like to give Caph’s defensive capabilities a boost.”  she offered.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Kiivan shook his head, sounding determined.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“No?”  Shen Rae sounded confused.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“We pride ourselves on being traders, and a hospitable paradise.  If we arm ourselves heavily, we’ll be a target instead.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“You have a point.”  she agreed.  “Perhaps this can be done more subtly.  Rather than have your soldiers guard the palace with pulse rifles--”


    Kiivan interrupted her by raising his hand.  “You don’t understand, Shen Rae.  We of Caph explore technology, but we don’t let it become central to our lives.  We don’t let it dilute the simplicity of life.  I thought you understood that, raising a grove of trees in the middle of the desert.”


    Shen Rae saddened, and then slouched.  “I did.  The charm of it all overtook me, and I wanted it, too.  Now I just want to protect it, to keep someone else from destroying it.  There has to be a way.”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Maybe there is.”  Kiivan rose from the cushion slowly.  “Your shuttle is still here, yes?”


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“It is.”  Shen Rae stood as well.


    Ã¢â‚¬Å“Perhaps now is a good time to teach me to fly it,”  he said.  “I have something to show you.”




TO BE CONTINUED?
    


-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be 
--    reprinted without permission.  
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
--  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
--  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

I'm not really sure what the technological level of Caph is at this point. They're obviously used to interstellar travel and weaponry, so it's hard to imagine that they would have none of their own. Plus, with Kiivan being trained by the Hooded Hood, it's a sure bet he's something of a twisty one himself.

Looking forward to the next part....

I believe Kiivan to be very smart and clever, except because he had to be a politician and diplomat, he doesn't want to give away his ace cards unless he needs to. After all, who trusts a smart politician?

As for Caph...it's never been well defined tech-wise, so I took a little artistic license and decided that they do have some advanced technology in its infancy, but choose not to let it run their lives. So they have limited space travel abilities, but they don't take to the skies and the planets because they don't want to.