The Archon

By William Hyde

The self-exiled Lord of the Earth finds a small colony of several hundred Ang Helocans surviving on a nearby planet. Many of them have been enslaved by the medieval denizens of the new world but he frees them and starts rebuilding the Ang Helocan people. The Archon decides to join Altonan on Novu Ang Heloca, but she never breaks her ties with her home planet and eventually leads a strike on Earth's enemies and destroys their war fleet. They decide to marry and their wedding swings public opinion on Earth in favour of the telepaths.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524514907

William Hyde

Throughout the last part of his working life as a locomotive engineer, Bill Hyde dreamed of this story. Upon retirement he couldn't get the story out of his head, and finally, reluctantly putting fingers to keyboard he started to write it. At last, after years of slow-going, he finished the story. He lives in the Cariboo region of British Columbia,Canada with his wife and almost grown children, and he is now working on the next book of this trilogy.

Book preview

PREQUEL

T he Archon Stephanie Barlow watched as the Arcturus Warrior II left orbit and accelerated out of the Solar System. The others, Admirals, Colonels, the Sub-Archon and all, had left the big carrier in their personal fighters after saying goodbye to Lord Altonan Arkonan, giving her some time to make her goodbyes in private. Now she sat alone in her fighter watching the ship grow smaller and smaller, and she felt a tear slip down her cheek. Goodbye, my love, she whispered. Come back to me soon. And then it was gone. She sat and watched it on her scope for a very long time, until it was out of range. Then, she wiped her eyes, blew her nose and turned her craft towards the sur face.

Take me to my parents house, MAXine. I don’t want to be alone tonight.

CHAPTER 1

HOMESICK!

I miss her, Saagah! I miss her so much!

Altonan stared moodily into space, while his friend shuffled uncomfortably for a few seconds and then, reluctantly sat down.

Do you wish to talk about it? he said.

Huh? Uh…no, I guess not, I don’t know why I said that. Sorry.

The tall Slag Kornan smiled. You have nothing to do and your mind drifts to thoughts of home, as with all of us. In our time of exile on Earth we thought of little else when we were alone, so we gathered together often and talked with each other. It helped. Try it.

Well, I miss Charlie and Cliff too, but I mean, Steph…..well, I just wish she could be here, and we could joke around like before, y’know? He sighed.

I can’t say I understand human notions of romantic love, but I do think you should try to occupy your mind with something other than the impossible.

Yeah, I suppose….

MAX spoke up. I am working on some communication probes that we can send back toward Earth and set up to send and receive on Slag Kornan communication bands. Then as we travel farther and farther away we can drop another, and then another. I believe we can then communicate with Earth as we like, utilizing my counterpart, MAXine.

Wow, MAX! You’re brilliant! Altonan leaped to his feet. Let’s get started right away! His mood had changed instantly. All his energy and enthusiasm had returned and he began moving rapidly towards the lab.

Saagah was left sitting by himself and he turned to the other Slag Kornans and shrugged. Shrugging was not native to their culture, but they had observed the Terrestrials doing it and liked it, so they had incorporated it and although they couldn’t quite do the necessary facial expression to go with the shrug they kept trying, often with a comical result.

I do not think he will recover. Soon, he will wish to return. This came from Kooril, one of the seven Slag Kornans aboard. They often spoke telepathically when Altonan wasn’t around because they disliked the idea of their vocal conversations being monitored by MAX, the artificial intelligence. Altonan had assigned each of them the rank of squadron commander and each had five squadrons of fighters under their personal control. In the event of battle, these manned ships would disguise the fact that the rest of the fighter squadrons were under the control of the AI. He had diplomatically assigned the same rank to each, but Saagah was the unspoken leader, as he had previously been a fleet viceroy in the Slag Kornan War Fleet.

"He has become more and more emotional since he has been dealing with the Earth men." spoke Gaandraal. I, for one, am glad to be away from there. I hope he stays his course.

Ah, Gaandraal the Outspoken! came back Saagah. "He is our friend. He has always stood by us. And now, he offers us the privilege of exploring the galaxy with him. We must learn to be understanding and empathetic towards him. It is difficult, yes, but it is the honourable thing to do."

Some of them looked down unresponsively while others nodded vigorously, and no further words were spoken on the topic. Saagah sighed. I believe I shall go to the gymnasium and do my workout. Anyone wish to spot me?

From the far side of the control room, Taashir, the moody, spoke up, I could use some exercise. I’ll come. He, alone of the Slags, always used vocalizations. He had been trying to have a friendship with a non-telepath while they were still on Earth, and had found it so difficult to verbalize that he resolved to always speak out loud, and in English. He was determined that when they returned to Earth he would be able to go into a sports bar and pick up a tall, black, female basketball player. He was the youngest, and most interested in absorbing the culture of the people he now lived among, and so he was always willing to try new things. For this he had to put up with the jibes and jokes of all the others, except for Saagah, who was the most supportive of his ambitions. As they left the room, heading for the gym, he was saying, I actually miss Earth! I traveled extensively. Everywhere I went was different and interesting, every place beautiful in it’s own way.

Treellaa, the eldest of the Slags shook his head. I wish I had his energy and enthusiasm! I think we all should try harder. We are not really much like the earthlings but we should be able to fit in to their culture much better than we have. I truly admire Taashir for his efforts."

I suppose you are right, Treellaa, answered Gaalloo. We should just leave him to his own devices. He’s certainly not hurting us by his actions. There was general agreement all around and the the group broke up, some of them going to see about the new long range communication device that Altonan and MAX were working on, and the rest heading to the entertainment room to watch a movie.

*        *        *

A few days later the AI sent the new devices backtracking on a fighter. It would take almost a week at full acceleration to get sufficiently close to Earth to begin the tests for the first one. This would ascertain its optimum placement and then the fighter would have to backtrack towards the Arcturus Warrior II, dropping comm. units where necessary. Soon, life on board the big ship was back to normal and Altonan was dozing in the entertainment area when he was awakened by the intercom. Altonan, could you come to the navigation station, please. I’ve found something quite interesting. Although the artificial intelligence was only a machine, MAX still managed to sound excited. Everyone in the control room immediately crowded over for a look.

Wait. I shall put it up on a large screen. Immediately a huge, virtual monitor appeared and everyone stepped back a few paces.

Well, MAX, what is it? asked Altonan.

It is an inhabited planet, but with very low technology. I was examining it as we passed and now, see what is on the far side? It seems to be a space ship in orbit.

Altonan was checking it out. I’m not reading much….it seems to be a derelict….MAX! Are you kidding me? How is this possible?!

Yes, it is an Ang Helocan ship. Very old. Most probably a passenger liner. MAX paused, Shall we turn around?

Yes, yes, by all means! We can’t pass this up! What could have happened here?

The big ship began a deceleration and executed a wide turn which brought it around to the side of the planet where the derelict vessel was located. Immediately, MAX announced that directly beneath the liner, on the surface, was a small village.

It is possible that the inhabitants are the escapees of this derelict, he intoned.

Saagah was manning the data-probe. There’s no indication of any level of modern technology.

Yes, it has walls made out of sharpened logs, like the forts in the Old West of America, said Altonan. What about that place over there? It looks like a medieval castle.

"Indeed it does, said MAX. I suggest a flyover of both sites after dark and we shall see what’s down there. In the meantime I shall deploy some surveillance units and they can send back some readings and count heads and map out the area."

Great idea, MAX! Now, let’s go and check out that derelict liner.

As they approached the old ship Saagah brought up enlarged images on the big screen and examined its every aspect. No sign of any weapons damage. It’s just dead in space. There’s no energy signature whatsoever. No air inside, at all.

I suggest that we send some repair units in with a surveillance drone before anyone goes in, suggested MAX. If we get some energy into it we can get all its systems running again."

Oh MAX, retorted Altonan. Everyone’s bored and wants some action. Send in your robots, but I for one am going in wearing my spacesuit."

As am I, stated Saagah.

Soon, they were all putting on their space suits near the airlock that MAX was now connecting to the derelict’s airlock. As everything was heard to clunk into place and the air pressure hissed to normal, Altonan stepped forward and opened the first door. Stepping in they closed behind them and noting that the pressure beyond the derelict’s door was zero, they depressurized the airlock and then opened the liner’s door. They were greeted by the sight of several dead bodies lying in various positions, none of them very decomposed, just mostly desiccated.

It looks like the liner was depressurized at the time of death of these people. thought Saagah. He looked warily around as if he expected ghosts to start appearing at any moment.

Let’s split up and do a count of the dead, suggested Altonan. MAX, see if your tech robots can attach our energy cells to the liners systems and get this thing powered up. And then these bodies should be refrigerated. After we have air and heat they will begin to decay.

Very well, answered MAX. Perhaps there is an area we can seal off and keep powered down.

After an hour or so all the bodies had been moved to a luggage storage area, which was then sealed off and kept cold and airless. There were thirty-one bodies all together and all could be identified on the ship’s log as soon as MAX and his minions had restored the computer system to an operational level. There was the ship’s commander and a few crewmen and the remainder were all quite old and would have died of old age by now. There was one shuttle in the bay and it was without fuel. Obviously these people had stayed until last and then become trapped on board the liner. Rather than having all die a lingering death, the remaining crew on board had depressurized the ship. Once MAX had the computer system back in operation they should be able to find everything in the ship’s logs. They all decided to return to their ship and return after the life support system was restored. Walking about in bulky space suits was rather tedious and the overall experience was proving rather depressing.

I’m going down to the surface after dark and look around on my flitter, announced Altonan. Is anyone picking up any telepathic activity down there? I’m sure that the little fort directly below is where the Ang Helocan survivors have set up camp, but I’m not getting anything. I suppose our orbit could be too high. Stephanie could probably sense them though.

Nobody was sensing anything. MAX averred that his physical readouts determined that they were indeed Ang Helocan but that the occupants of the town around the castle were not, at least not all of them.

You mean that there are Ang Helocans living with the locals? asked Altonan.

So it would seem, answered the AI.

And look here, said MAX. A small farming community without any walled protection at all. They are definitely passengers from the liner. I wonder why they have no protection, and from what?

I’ll see what I can find out after it get’s dark, he answered. He started down to the launch deck but Saagah stopped him.

I would like to come along with you, my friend. I grow weary of having nothing new to do with my time.

Sure, Altonan replied, but I warn you, I’m leaving my fighter at five thousand feet and reconnoitering on my flitter. He knew Saagah disliked using his flitter.

"Aah, that’s fine. It’ll be an adventure! I’ll take my own fighter. Let’s go."

Okay, it’s almost dark anyway. I’m going to try to contact them at the gates of the wooden fort and I don’t want to frighten them so I’ll go alone.

Ten minutes later saw them sinking towards the planet’s surface as darkness began to fall. Saagah was most interested in the castle and the beings who had built it. He told Altonan to meet him there after he was finished at the fort. He shrugged as he thought he might be some time talking there, anyway.

"Just make sure none of the aliens see you or your fighter, okay," he warned.

*        *        *

Altonan hovered over the ‘fort’ peering down intently. It was dark and no one was moving about. With his night vision glasses he could make out one guard on each of the four walls, moving slowly back and forth. Try as he might he could not detect any tele-signatures. So if they had no technology they at least had a teleshield it would seem. Indeed, the lookouts on the walls seemed to be armed only with spears and bow and arrows. As he slowly drifted around mentally mapping the place he espied the group of buildings that were thought to be a farm several hundred yards from the fort. He approached at a height of one hundred feet and noted that this place was indeed a farming area and was without walls. He saw two guards and they seemed to be carrying military pulse rifles. So they did possess a few modern weapons. This was probably the reason there were no walls. The guards could protect the farmers in the fields, but if an army approached they could seek protection within the fort. He decided to return to the front gate and talk to the sentry. He stepped off his flitter and banged on the gate with a rock. After waiting a minute he banged again, this time calling out. Again nothing happened. He called out in Ang Helocan requesting to talk to someone and abruptly an arrow bounced off his personal defensive force field.

What are you doing? Altonan bellowed. I’m Ang Helocan! I just want to talk!

Immediately another arrow ricocheted off his defensive force field, lodging itself in the log wall.

Feeling a flash of anger, he decided to abandon his quest and join Saagah before he lost control and burned the wooden structure to the ground. He rose on his flitter and reentered his fighter setting off toward the castle, he flew over the farm noting as he went the great variety of crops below. He had noted that there was no teleshield covering the farms, but thought to wait until the survey of the whole planet was finished before attempting to contact anyone. Once he had a better understanding of the situation he could contact the farmers from a distance and ask permission to approach.

On my way, Saagah. See anything interesting?

Yes my friend, very interesting! Beside the castle I got close to some of these beings. Altonan, they’re huge! And I tried to probe their minds and they have a very powerful blocking mechanism that seems to be continuous. Telepathic? I don’t know, but they are all communicating verbally.

Well, then how could they block us if they’re not telepathic?

Altonan suddenly slid into position beside Saagah and peered downwards with interest. They were hovering over the town square on their flitters and the only lighting was provided by burning torches placed in poles distributed regularly throughout the plaza. As they watched they sensed the approach of a telepath. He was aware of them both, but obviously assumed they were regulars and never bothered contacting them. Another came on the scene, a woman, but she also showed little interest in them. Altonan drifted over to get a look at her and was surprised to see her carrying a heavy burden while following directly behind a larger, stronger male of the aboriginal species.

Sheesh, you’re right! They’re huge! Look at that lazy bozo letting that little woman carry everything.

Why would they be together? They seem to be incompatible species, said Saagah.

You ask good questions, Saagah, but come on and we’ll check out the castle. I’ve been itching to have a look inside.

Rising higher, they coasted over the castle and then slowly descended until they could see the layout. There were two bowmen on each of the archer towers and spear-men patrolling in pairs on the parapets along the top of the walls. There was a large central courtyard containing the closed up stalls of the marketplace, some buildings, probably barracks by the look of them, and at the far end, a wide, majestic staircase leading to huge, carved double doors, obviously the home of the royal family. Above, there was a large balcony, suitable for giving speeches to the assembled subjects below.

Wow, this is cool! enthused Altonan, It’s like we took a time machine a thousand years into the past.

Slag Korno never had anything like this in its past.

Well, the only past I know is Earth’s past. I guess I shouldn’t assume that all civilizations go through similar periods. The Ang Helocan Confederacy is so old that I never got back into its ancient history. Let’s go back and discuss all this with MAX.

Well, you can discuss it with MAX. I’ll tell my commanders all about it.

Sure, whatever, answered Altonan suddenly remembering the Slags’ antipathy to the artificial intelligence, and they rose swiftly into the stratosphere and entered their fighters.

*        *        *

Well, what do you think, MAX? You saw what I saw. Something seems odd about the whole setup. There were approximately two thousand crew and passengers on that liner. Thirty-one dead we’ve counted so far. The farm has accommodation for twenty or thirty I suppose. Did you see any houses or barracks inside the fort?

Well, there were quite a few two and three story buildings which could have had extensive underground areas. They could have been apartments.

Saagah spoke up. It’s obvious that many of your people couldn’t survive their first century on this planet. Perhaps their big neighbor’s have been harassing them since they got here. Maybe there are only a few hundred left.

But….but….there are Ang Helocans living with the people in the castle town. What about that?

I guess they’re slaves, I’m sorry to say. Captured in war….victims of raiding parties, kidnappings. It’s obvious to a Slag Kornan.

Slaves!! Altonan was thunderstruck at the very idea. Well, we’ll be freeing them, I swear. I will not stand by while any of my people are enslaved. MAX, I want to set up a defensible base down there, right between the two towns. See if you can find any good places to build.

Very well, Altonan. I shall look over the terrain during your rest period and get back to you in the morning.

*        *        *

The next morning Altonan entered the dining area and joined his crew for breakfast. The Slags were eager to plan how they would fight the formidable beings below, but MAX had some ideas about relocating Arcturus Warrior II.

Altonan, I’ve examined a deep valley half-way between the Ang Helocan fort and the town with the castle. The AI brought up a picture of the terrain below and highlighted a deep V-shaped rift between two medium sized mountains which were part of a range. Saagah and company stopped their warrior deliberations and began paying attention.

Alright MAX, what do you propose?

I think we should build a stone house here, he highlighted a cliff face on the other side of the low range of mountains, and then we drill a tunnel from the ship to our little house built into the rock wall.

Hmm, and the house would disguise the tunnel entrance?

Yes, and when you are going out to reconnoiter it will look like you are merely leaving your residence like any other person on the planet.

That’s good! That’s very good MAX! I like it.

But what about soldiers from the castle investigating? asked Saagah. They’re bound to notice a new structure being built there.

It will look lived in but empty. said MAX. The entrance to the tunnel will be hidden and impenetrable. They will look around and assume that no one is home and leave."

That may work! said Altonan. If we monitor the area beforehand, then our comings and goings won’t even be noticed. And MAX, we should keep our technology out of sight

Of course. We should keep as low a profile as possible until we can ascertain the best position to take here.

But why should we hide?! exploded Gaandraal. These primitives can not stand before us! Why should we hide? The others all made supportive noises and gestures.

Altonan looked at Saagah and nodded imperceptibly. Reluctantly the tall Slag addressed his men. Our way is not the Ang Helocan way. This planet is not our planet, it belongs to the primitives. We serve on an Ang Helocan ship now and we do things the Ang Helocan way. I understand that you yearn for battle with worthy opponents, but please understand. These beings are not worthy opponents so we must try Altonan’s way. And we must serve enthusiastically.

There was a stunned silence as the Slags realized that they had stepped out of line. They all turned as one to Altonan and offered mumbled apologies. Please continue, said Gaandraal.

That night MAX brought the Arcturus Warrior II down into the hidden valley he had chosen. Work started Immediately. Builder robots started cutting stone bricks as they made the tunnel and began ferrying them to the designated place on the other side of the cliff wall. There the bricks began to be assembled into a rough stone house. By morning the structure was complete and some bushes and trees had been planted in front of it to shield it from being seen from the road approximately one hundred yards away. Altonan was pleased and named it New Earthbase.

CHAPTER 2

FIGHTING BACK

A t this moment, the Archon Stephanie Barlow was standing defiantly before the President of the United States of America seated at his desk. She was dressed in her Ang Helocan uniform and was flanked by Admiral Charles Bosford and Admiral Cliff Potter, each attired in their US Navy uniforms. Behind them were assembled more than a dozen officers and enlisted men, all wearing various uniforms of the American mili tary.

Well, what’s it going to be? she glowered.

The President looked quite intimidated and tried to sound apologetic, Uh, I tried to be supportive to your friend but public opinion has turned against him, and uh….well this is a democracy dammit! I have a duty to follow the wishes of my constituents…..and.…I…

This is bullshit and you know it! Your constituents were mislead by the mainstream media, you never held any public enquiries to find out the truth. You didn’t assign any government investigators to look into it. You didn’t give a damn to do anything but jump on the bandwagon and act like a real take charge kind of hero. These men and women beside me are the real heroes who stepped up to the plate when it was necessary. And what did you do? You went along with the herd and followed public opinion. Do you remember how you felt when Altonan rescued you from the Slags? Well, do you? You disgust me!

Admiral Bosford and Admiral Potter exchanged a grim look. Neither of them had ever seen Stephanie so angry. Astonishingly the President started to tear up and he hung his head in shame.

What can I say, you’re right. What can I do now? Everything’s out of control. I blew it!

All I care about, Mister President, is that this government do the right thing. These people fought at my side and they saved the human race from a genocide, and they saved the planet from total destruction. They are all owed a great debt from all the people on Earth. Now, I know you can’t control everybody, but you can damn well do the right thing for the United States, and you know what that is.

The President shook his head, Everything’s in motion now. I can’t stop it. I’m finishing the end of my second term. There’s an election coming up. I have to support my party. If I take an unpopular stand we could get wiped out in the election. Don’t you understand? My hands are tied?"

The Archon said nothing, staring at him for a long minute. Then she slowly leaned forward until they were nose to nose, resting her weight on her