The Hunter on Arena Page 14

  But the Thanes were worried. Piracy was profitable and had worked for a time, but eventually, other offworlders came together to create the Whole World Federation which regulated the rules of the galaxy, the rules by which all offworlders were governed. It was impossible to defy the WWF for it possessed a superior war fleet capable of blasting transgressors into Stardust.

  The Thanes still looted and raided when it was deemed safe, but they could no longer depend on such actions to support their world which had grown larger and larger and far more complex, requiring vast amounts of money to survive, much less compete in the galactic market.

  Rhodium and K7 were the answers to their problems for rhodium was needed by every race capable of space travel. In all the known universe, only rhodium was capable of protecting hulls from the intense heat encountered when departing or re-entering atmospheres. It was a dream come true, financial solvency that would make Valhalla the richest planet in the galaxy.

  It was the revelation of the financial benefits that finally put out the fires of the rebellion, for even the young idealists were able to recognize the fact that their own lives were at risk. When faced with the concern for an unknown race of primitive people on a far distant planet or the continuance of their own pleasant lifestyle, there was really no choice.

  A small, hard-core band of resisters including Lomi and Jorund remained, but for their own safety, they were forced to remain silent. They had watched and waited over the years, inheriting positions of power as they came available and carefully and quietly inducting new members to their cause.

  Unaware of their existence, the Thanes had continued on with their work on K7, excavating the mine, installing the expensive equipment necessary for the extraction of the rhodium and staffing it with robots. They also sent along the Madrelli, an apelike race which they had genetically and chemically manipulated to make them the perfect slave worker.

  The Thanes had been telling the truth. It was only after the mine was fully operational and an enthusiastic and captive market established for their high-grade rhodium, that they had discovered that the planet was inhabited by not one or two but a score of primitive yet intelligent races.

  It was a disaster of staggering proportions. The Thanes conferred and after long discussion decided that they had only three options. They could abide by the WWF’s rules and abandon K7 which would mean planetary ruin. They could kill off the native population which no one besides themselves even knew existed. Or, they could devise some elaborate plan which would keep the two civilizations apart.

  In the end, there was really no argument, for deception was far more preferable to wholesale murder. An elaborate fiction was composed, rather simplistic actually, but in the case of a civilization that had barely advanced beyond the Bronze Age, more than adequate. They had composed a pastiche of old earth religions based on weather and natural events and animistic deities that would appeal to the primitive mind and put it all in place with the introduction of black-robed “priests” who were, in fact, nothing more than robots draped in voluminous robes that concealed their non-human features.

  The Thanes were able to monitor all happenings via small “seeing eyes” and silver discs implanted in the palms of the robots’ hands and chests that were listening devices. When it was necessary to sway the natives in one direction or another, “visions” were miraculously created by a robot priest placing his hand directly against the forehead of one selected to receive the “vision.” Group visions were projections of holograms which had never failed to convince the impressionable natives who held the mysterious priests in reverential awe.

  To complete the religion and further protect themselves, the Thanes erected immense, stone monoliths, much in the image of themselves, and placed them at the edges of the natives’ land, creating a buffer zone and separating them from the previous mines as well as from the Madrelli who knew all too well of their existence.

  The scheme had worked brilliantly. The care and handling of native affairs was overseen by a small group of Thanes who maintained a close watch on the lives of their charges and saw to it that they remained wrapped in the heavy cloak of the religion that had been created for them. They also saw to it that the natives did not advance too swiftly, purposely holding them at a semi-primitive state, for advanced thinkers and skeptics could mean nothing but trouble.

  But of course such thinkers and skeptics did arise from time to time and these were dealt with swiftly and harshly. They seldom lived long enough to cause anyone any trouble.

  The last thing the Thanes had expected was trouble on their own world. So alert were they to trouble on K7 that they were taken entirely by surprise by Bracca’s incipient rebellion and they acted foolishly. An intelligent solution would have been to have offered the young idealist a position on the Council for Native Affairs—a position with high rank and title and very little actual power, but enough to convince the young firebrand that there was the possibility of progress in his cause.

  Instead, they had reacted swiftly and without thought, setting in motion events that would have far-reaching implications.

  This much was known to Lomi and she shared her knowledge with Braldt, but that was far from all of the story. There was no way she could have known that Bracca and his young wife had perished almost immediately on the hostile and unfamiliar planet, having the misfortune to arrive in the desert in the middle of the hot season. Unfortunately and inexplicably, the infant sheltered by his father’s body survived long enough to be found by the natives.

  By this time, the Thanes’ misguided actions had come to light and Bracca’s enraged and grief-stricken father, although unable to retrieve the child, refused to permit its death. The child’s existence was a closely guarded secret, one that Brandtson had no reason to share with Lomi, but of great importance to the old man.

  Brandtson had manipulated events and caused the child to be given into the care of the chief’s family. His grief over the loss of his son and daughter-in-law was somewhat comforted by his ability to oversee the child’s progress as Braldt and the chief, Auslic, a fine and noble leader, developed a close and loving bond.

  But his fellow Thanes did not share his happiness. Far from it. They were nervous and concerned over the existence of the child, viewing him as a terrible threat. How could one of their race fail to be superior in every way, even when surrounded by an inferior, primitive species? And indeed that proved to be the case. They made certain that the child was closely watched from his very youngest days on, so that they would be forewarned of any danger.

  And so began a ballet of sorts with Brandtson overseeing his grandson from afar and his fellow Thanes, not powerful enough to kill him or depose him, attempting to control the child as well. They tried to steer him into the priesthood, for there, surrounded by their robots, they would have been able to exert the most control over his actions. But Braldt was not cut from a priestly cloth. From the very first, it was clear that true to his ancient lineage, he was a warrior.

  In spite of the Thanes’ efforts to hold him back, Braldt excelled in everything. His skills in weaponry were unmatched by anyone, even his teachers. He had made remarkable strides in education, absorbing everything he was taught and yearning for more. He carried abstract deduction to levels that astounded his mentors, advancing the study of mathematics into areas that had never even been thought of, and he developed a new process of smelting that produced harder metal capable of holding a keener edge than had ever been possible.

  But the thing that had worried the Thanes most was Braldt’s continuing close relationship to the aging chief, Auslic. Although childless (a situation created by the Thanes), Auslic had stepped beyond the established chain of command and publicly chosen Braldt as his successor. This could not be allowed, for whom among them could say how far Braldt would be able to take the primitive society. Far enough to begin to question the old rules and the religion that dictated so much of their lives. Far enough to disregard the borders and venture
into the Forbidden Lands, far enough to discover the mines and the Madrelli, which would be the beginning of the end.

  The Thanes took steps to see that such a thing did not happen. With the priests’ help, they augmented Auslic’s diet with life-extending potions that had long been known to them, enabling him to outlive his contemporaries and put off Braldt’s ascendance to power.

  They used the time they had gained as best they were able, seeing to it that Braldt was given the most dangerous of assignments, hoping that he would be killed by one of the dangerous creatures or other species that inhabited the planet. But such did not happen; Braldt survived all obstacles thrown his way, and in doing so, grew even more adept.

  And so they were stalemated, Braldt and Auslic alive and well and the Thanes watching nervously for a day they knew must come. That day arrived in a way none had imagined. An old man, warming his bones in the rising sun, had been slain by a wild beast. Unfortunate as the death was, it was made worse by the fact that he had been a close friend of Auslic’s. Also slain by the beast was a young comrade of Braldt’s.

  At first, the deaths, totally natural in their occurrence, had been hailed as positive, for Braldt had set out after the beast, determined to slay it. The Thanes hoped with all their hearts that the beast would kill Braldt, solving all of their problems. But in this, too, they were to be foiled. Although Braldt was badly injured, he succeeded in killing the beast and acquired one of her young who attached itself to him with a fierce loyalty.

  To make matters worse, Auslic, already old and frail, kept alive long beyond his natural lifespan by unnatural means, had suffered a failure of his heart brought on by the shock of the death of his oldest friend. The Thanes were in turmoil, for if Auslic died, Braldt would accede to the throne, an impossible situation!

  But their problems did not stop there. The Thanes found themselves beset by problems on all sides. After thousands of years of domination, the Madrelli were rebelling. Their level of intelligence was closely controlled by the administration of a pill that contained all they needed to maintain their genetic advances. In the past, all that had been necessary to control the Madrelli was to withhold the vital pill. But in this, too, they were frustrated, for as impossible as it seemed, the Madrelli had found a berry on K7 that replicated the pill that was so essential to their existence.

  It was at this point that a faction of the Thanes, sensing that they were losing control of the situation, had begun to advocate that all of their problems would be solved if neither the Madrelli, the natives, or the troublesome Braldt existed, from there it was but a single leap to the thought of total annihilation. After all, they still possessed many more captive Madrelli on Valhalla and Rototara and other worlds that they firmly controlled. What was the loss of a few thousand when others could easily be cloned? Also, if the planet were destroyed, it would be far easier to collect, extract, and process the valuable rhodium.

  This plan was certain to be opposed by any number of their fellow Scandis; the Council for Native Affairs had, over time, come to take itself rather seriously and was sure to resent such a plan to eradicate their charges. And most importantly, there was the venerable Brandtson who still wielded considerable power. There was also the small matter of the WWF which would mete out harsh judgment if it ever discovered that the Scandis had purposely destroyed a world that contained intelligent life.

  If the planet was to be destroyed, it would have to look like a natural occurrence. The planet, like so many others, contained an active belt of volcanos, dangerous in the extreme unless one knew how to manage them by bleeding off the excess amounts of pressure. It was also possible to increase the pressure, which one never did since it could cause a planetary cataclysm of disastrous proportions; this was exactly what the Scandis had in mind.

  Steps were taken to shut down the mine and all but a caretaking staff of robots were withdrawn, for unlike the Madrelli who could be endlessly and inexpensively cloned, the robots were intensely complicated and incredibly expensive bits of technology and not easily or quickly replaced.

  The Madrelli, however, learned of the Thanes’ plans and reasonably enough, objected and took steps to foil the plot. At a great loss of Madrelli life and robots, the Madrelli flooded the control chamber of the mine and shut down the equipment which allowed the Scandis to come and go undetected. This was a serious problem for the planet could not be destroyed from space in a manner that would not be suspect. Somehow, it was imperative to drain the chamber and reverse the piece of equipment that concealed the arrivals and departures of their ships.

  To the ironic amusement of those still possessing a sense of humor, it was decided that Braldt was the only one capable of carrying out the difficult and dangerous mission of crossing over into the hostile Madrelli lands and finding his way to the heart of the volcanic mountain that contained the cloaking device.

  Braldt had been sent on this “holy” mission by the priests who told him that Auslic’s only chance for survival lay in the retrieval of a medical kit that could be found in the mountain’s interior. He was also instructed to reverse the crucial lever. The medical kit was but a cover story to conceal the true mission, throwing the lever, for if Braldt did as they directed, it would not matter if he succeeded in bringing the kit back to his tribe. There was nothing in its contents which could save Auslic and by that time, the planet would have ceased to exist.

  Once again, the fates, which not even the Scandis had managed to control, intervened and all of their plans went awry. Braldt and his adopted siblings, Keri and Carn, had crossed over into the Forbidden Lands as directed and then were lost to the Thanes for they had no way of observing them. When next they appeared inside the mountain and were subject to remote scanning, the Thanes received an unpleasant shock. Somehow, Braldt and the Madrelli had discovered each other and appeared to be working in concert. Even worse, it appeared that the Madrelli had shared their knowledge of the Scandis with Braldt which could not fail to lead to horrific problems.

  Then, those same fickle fates had swung in their direction. Volcanic activity had increased, and without their assistance in relieving the build-up of pressure, the mountain suffered ground shifts which all but killed Cam and severely injured the Madrelli known as Batta Flor. Cam, exposed to the great heat at the heart of the volcano, experienced what his fevered mind interpreted as a religious revelation that directed him on a specific course of action.

  After great difficulty, Braldt, Keri, and Batta Flor succeeded in reaching the flooded chamber and retrieved the sought-after medical box. Then Cam arrived, and following the whisperings of his heat-demented mind, threw the lever that allowed the Scandis to come and go and also transported Braldt off K7 and directly onto Rototara in an ironic blink of fate’s eye.

  The watching Thanes were thunderstruck! Not only had they succeeded in reversing the lever, but here was Braldt delivered into their hands as well! Now they could not take the chance of allowing the Madrelli to return to his village, for there was still the possibility that his tribe would sabotage the machinery a second time. As it was, they would not know that it had been reversed until the ships arrived and then it would be too late. But if the Madrelli did not return, it could only be assumed that he had perished in his brave attempt. And so it was that the machinery had been activated a second time, seizing Batta Flor, Keri, and even the lupebeast pup in its inexorable grasp and delivering them to the Thanes.

  Now, fate would be allowed to play its part again, for no matter how good Braldt was, no matter how strong and resistent to pain was the Madrelli, neither of them could survive the ring forever. And if they did, they could always be pitted against each other. There was, of course, the small risk that someone would recognize Braldt, but it was unlikely. Brandtson had been sent back to Valhalla on a quickly contrived affair of business and no one else on Rototara had the necessary strength to oppose them. At last, thought the Thanes, things were going our way.

  If the Thanes had known what was happenin
g beneath the arena, their carefully coiffed, silvery, blond hair would have turned gray overnight.

  18

  Concluding their long conversation, Lomi returned to her quarters just before dawn, barely escaping detection by the roving guards who took careful note of those who were not where they were supposed to be. Her tired heart beat erratically and she willed it to be calm, chiding herself for being a foolish old woman with a case of the flutters. Braldt and his friends depended on her. His life was in her hands. She had been unable to help Bracca, but she would not fail his son.

  There was much to be done. First, she had to tell Jorund and the others what she had learned, and somehow they must get a message to Brandtson, for his help would be badly needed. No one, not even the Thanes of Rototara would be able to stand against Brandtson. When he learned that he had nearly lost his grandson… the mere thought of his rage was staggering. No, Lomi smiled to herself. Telling Brandtson was the answer. He would fix everything.

  She had to find Jorund. Lomi turned to the door, then sunk to the foot of her bed, pressing the tips of her fingers hard against her breastbone, willing her ragged heartbeat to return to normal, to cease its uncertain patter. This was no time for such nonsense, she was needed! But she could not rise. Darkness crowded in at the edges of her eyes, dimming her vision, and the air seemed thick and heavy… it was difficult to breathe. Maybe if she rested for just a moment, gathered her strength…. She collapsed slowly against the cushions of her bed, her slight figure seeming no more than a bed ornament, and the rise and fall of her chest came slower and slower and slower.

  Braldt, Randi, Allo, and Septua were all but overwhelmed by what they had learned; alternately overjoyed, angered, and dismayed. Braldt was deeply moved, hearing about his father and mother, and he grieved anew for their deaths. His anger burned ever more deeply over that long distant decision that had sent them plummeting out of their world to die in a strange and hostile land.