Chapter 24. My hands are instruments of Death.
As Michael and Kinthragor journeyed back to Michael's home, the atmosphere was tense. The roads were empty, the travels quiet, a stark contrast to the encounter with the three bandits a few days ago. They were now just a few days away from the reunion with Michael’s family. The question of how this reunion would unfold, especially in relation to Kinthragor, hung in the air, unspoken but palpable.
Michael understood that Kinthragor had come to Earth with the express purpose of finding and eliminating the family of Andrew Dawes, whom Kinthragor blamed for the murder of his own brother, Anthragor. If it was, in fact, true that Andrew had killed Kinthragor’s brother, then Michael understood Kinthragors desire for revenge and closure. It was, however, also true that Michael had saved Kinthragor’s life, and Michael now believed the threat to his family to be over and thought the safest place for Kinthragor would be back on Dawes Hill.
Selfishly, Michael also knew that Kinthragor could be an asset to the humans against the Lacertine invasion force. Kinthragor had shown that he held no solidarity with the Lacertine forces, just the opposite, in fact, since Michael first met Kinthragor in a holding cell, having been captured and imprisoned by the Lacertines.
“Kinny, there is something we need to talk about,” Michael said as the UTV traversed a forest trail somewhere in Mississippi.
Kinthragor breathed deeply and nodded his head, understanding the subject of the conversation they were about to have.
“Kinny, I saved you from that prison cell and helped heal you up because it was the right thing to do. You told me why you came to my planet and the purpose of your visit. You told me that you came to wipe out me and my entire family because of what you claim my brother did,” Michael said.
“It is not claim, Michael. Andrew Dawes murdered my brother for nothing more than performing his duty as a council enforcer,” Kinthragor spoke the words in a firm, unwavering tone.
“I understand what you believe, Kinny, and I’m not even saying you are wrong; I’m just asking you to hear me out. You and your people have been a part of the initiated universe for a long time. What you consider to be normal and status quo has completely shattered my planet’s understanding of reality. A few years ago, we thought we were the only intelligent species in the galaxy, possibly even the universe. Then, our world was literally turned upside down overnight. Those of us who could survive did so and tried to rebuild over time, only to be invaded by a race of lizard aliens intent on capturing and selling us as livestock. Can you even begin to understand the impact that has on people?” Michael asked.
“I understand that your people have been through much, Michael. I am not here to pass judgment on the human race. My mission was one of honor,” Kinthragor spoke without looking at Michael, “Michael, you have shown honor and loyalty to me; you have shown the willingness to save a life, even when that being had sworn vengeance against you and your family. I came to this planet for the sole purpose of restoring honor to my brother’s memory, but I fear that is now a task that I am not capable of completing,” Kinthragor said.
“Michael, you fear that I am not to be trusted around your family. You fear that I will take the revenge I sought when I came to this planet. You need not fear this thing. My people value honor over everything else. You have shown me that humans have honor and are not merely to be seen as livestock. I am afraid that this is a sentiment that most other beings in the galaxy will not share, unfortunately, but I swear to you, Michael, that you have earned my respect. I will repay honor with honor. I pledged to bring honor to my brother’s memory, and I will honor that pledge by earning the trust of the human that saved my life,” Kinthragor said.
Michael turned toward Kinthragor, studying him intently. “Kinthragor, I saved you and helped nurse you back to some semblance of health. I have invested in you, not because I wanted something from you but because it was the right thing to do. Soon, we will be back home, back with my family, and I hope that they can come to know you as I do, but I need you to understand something.”
Kinthragor turned his eyeless face toward Michael as he spoke.
“Kinny, if you give me any reason to believe that you are going to pursue this honor mission of yours, I will not think twice; I will end you,” Michael said.
“I understand your need to warn me, Michael, but I feel I must tell you that if I decided to pursue my mission, there would be little you could do to stop me,” Kinthragor responded.
Michael stopped the UTV and took a deep breath before responding, “That is probably the same thing your brother was thinking when he went after my brother.”
Kinthragor tensed at the mention of his brother, a low, tense rumble building in his chest before he shook his head and sighed.
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“My brother was a fool to underestimate your people. He was always making rash decisions and operating outside the purvue of his position. There was a time when I would have believed him infallible, but that time has long since passed. I will honor the memory of what he wanted to be, not what he became in the end. Michael, you have nothing to fear from me, nor does your family or people.”
“Great, then I can’t wait to introduce you to my family! Hopefully, there hasn’t been any excitement since I’ve been gone. Once we have taken a couple of days to rest and recover, I will need to check back in with my unit. If you have an idea where that ship of yours is, we might be able to get you back to it,” Michael said with a smile and pat on Kinthragor’s shoulder.
“Why have you struck me, Michael? Did we not just agree that we are allies?” Kinthragor asked, confused.
“No, no, you have it all wrong,” Michael laughed, “That wasn’t me striking you; that was a pat on the back. It’s meant to show solidarity or support for a friend or to congratulate them. In this case, I was trying to show support. Does your race not have something similar?” Michael asked.
Kinthragor made a loud noise similar to the stridulation of a catfish, a loud grunting croak and threw his eyeless head back as the noise repeated several times.
“That is terrifying….what was that?” Michael asked, a look of utter shock on his face.
“Do you not know a laugh when you see it Michael?”
Matty got the call from CJ the day before. Captain Andrew was gone, apparently transported off planet by the Coeus for some sort of mission. After the incident at the train yard in New York, the team made a couple of stops to try to locate their families but weren’t successful. Everything had changed in the last three years, and the hope was that everyone’s family members were scattered and hadn’t been shipped off the planet and sold as livestock. The odds weren’t good, though, as they were all in close proximity to the processing station that Elvis had nearly single-handedly wiped out.
Matty Garcia had seen terrible things in his life before the drop. He had spent time serving overseas in the Middle East before coming back home to New York and joining the NYPD. He had spent several years as a patrol officer before qualifying for the SWAT team after his brother Jax qualified. The two had always been close, and after both qualifying to serve on the SWAT team, they had looked forward to being able to spend more time together.
Neither man had married, settling instead for the bachelor life. The two brothers had talked about finding wives, settling down, and starting families, but the danger their jobs represented gave them pause. They both figured there would be time for those things later in life since they were both in their early thirties, but then the drop happened, and everything went to shit. After things finally began to return to some semblance of normalcy after the drop, the orbs came to life. The rest was history. The brothers entered an orb with a group of friends and made it through the tutorial, only to be marooned in space on a ship they couldn’t operate. Shortly thereafter, the group was captured and imprisoned before finally being rescued by Andrew and the crew of the Bloodhound.
“What is our ETA?” Red asked from the back of the Pup as they made their way from the northeast coast of the U.S. back down to central Louisiana.
“Should be there in about half an hour, so you guys just settle down and enjoy the ride,” Matty replied.
“Holy Shit!” Jax said from the co-pilot's chair, “Are you guys seeing this?”
“It is getting very kinetic up there; I have a feeling this is not a good thing,” Matty replied.
“I just got a message from Natasha,” Elvis said, “Princess Danae is with her, and they took out the Rerek battle group that was stationed in orbit. Apparently, the Rerek decided to take over the reaping operation and were actively working to interrupt the Lacertine occupation effort,” Elvis said.
“What does that mean?” Loren asked from her seat beside Elvis.
“It means that Earth is seen as holding value to more than just the Lacertine force. It means that things on the surface are liable to escalate soon.” Matty said.
“We don’t know that,” Jax said.
“Jax, we have been part of an occupying force, and we have been part of a defensive effort. You know, as I do, that once a government invests troops and resources, they aren’t likely to just walk away from a fight easily. We already knew what we were up against with the Lacertines, and that was going to be hard enough to overcome. Now, we have a new threat from the Rerek, and that makes orders of magnitude more complicated. We need to get back to Tiff and the others, figure out if we have orbital support from the Bloodhound, and figure out if Andrew is going to be back any time soon.
“Now that the Bloodhound is back in orbit, I can access and control the rail guns, if necessary, but we need to assess the level of imminent threat first. I am concerned about the Rerek ships having sent a distress signal before they were destroyed. If they were able to do that, the level of threat from orbit would far outweigh any threat we face here on the surface,” Elvis said.
“Damn, man, can we not just get one solid week where we aren’t in life-threatening danger?” Red asked from his seat.
“Danger leads to glory,” Elvis said.
“Seriously, Elvis? I understand that you love killing things, but can you not for once just recognize the level of shit that we are in here?” Red replied.
“I will not apologize for being a force capable of humbling entire armies. I am a glorious weapon of destruction. I am the symbol of carnage and revenge. My hands are instruments of death. My feet will squeeze the final breath out of any enemy that dares to stand in front of me, and my hair flows like the blood from my enemy's throat!” Elvis exclaimed.
Red just shook his head at Elvis’ words, “You have problems, bro, like serious problems,”
“I like his confidence,” Loren said as she lightly placed her hand on his.
“What is this? What are you doing to me, woman?” Elvis shouted, “My body, what is this reaction to your touch?”
“Hahahahaha,” Red laughed from the seat across from them.
Jax laughed as he turned his head to see Elvis standing and blushing in confusion, “Oh, Slayer of armies, death of those who would dare to stand against you, welcome to being aroused,”
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