Yaliana, p.1
Yaliana, page 1
Yaliana
By Alex Powell
Published by JMS Books LLC
Visit jms-books.com for more information.
Copyright 2020 Alex Powell
ISBN 9781646562527
Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com
Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.
All rights reserved.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published in the United States of America.
* * * *
Yaliana
By Alex Powell
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 1
Yaliana looked out on the dense jungle below, ever watchful for pterodactyls.
A faint whistling noise sounded nearby, and Yaliana identified it as a pterodactyl call. She raised her head and scanned the sky. For a moment, she saw nothing.
“Pterodactyl overhead!” came a shout.
A moment later, the alarms sounded, warning anyone in the compound below to get under cover of one of the concrete bunkers.
Yaliana drew her saber. She flicked a switch, and the metal blade erupted in a shower of sparks as it lit up with electricity. A pterodactyl swooped down from overhead, its deep cawing a warning of its impending attack. Its leathery wings spread wide, backlit against the sun. Yaliana raised her weapon, ready to defend herself if it became necessary.
Gevery and his squad lined up along the wall, drawing energy rifles. Gevery made a motion, and the squad began firing on the pterodactyl. Its body and head were covered in dense bone-like armour resistant to energy bolts. It made them difficult to kill, which was why Yaliana readied herself to attack with her saber.
“It’s closing fast!” yelled Gevery.
It came closer and closer, swooping in, its long beak filled with huge, jagged teeth. Yaliana raised her weapon. The creature crashed into the wires running along the top of the wall, and the wires sparked wildly. The pterodactyl used its claws to climb over them without much trouble. Gevery’s squad opened fire on the ptero, but the bolts bounced harmlessly off its boney armour, showing just how ineffective their weapons were against it.
Yaliana slashed with her sword, but it didn’t do anything except make a hollow thumping noise against the armour. She swung again, barely grazing the dark burn marks on the armour where Gevery’s squad had hit the creature.
Yaliana stabbed at it, looking for a gap in its armour, then slashed at its vulnerable wings, scoring them with long cuts that sizzled with energy. The pterodactyl screeched in pain and bit its arms. Its teeth scraped along its black armour. The awful noise made Yaliana’s ears throb.
As she fought the creature, Gevery’s squad came up behind it. Its back was hard to reach from their position. The creature whirled around to face them, screeching. That left its back to Yaliana, so she sank her blade into the pterodactyl’s leathery flesh. The creature screamed as the weapon pierced it, then turned to face her, dragging her weapon out of her hands.
Without a melee weapon, she drew her energy rifle. It wouldn’t do much good, even at this range. Possibly if she hit it directly in the eye, but great bone ridges partially hid them, making it difficult.
Gevery and his squad stabbed at the pterodactyl’s back, and once again, it turned on them. Some of the knights were left in the same predicament as Yaliana. With the creature’s back facing her, Yaliana leapt as high as her heavy armour would let her and landed on its back. She bore down on one of the squad’s swords that had stuck there, and the weapon sank deep into the pterodactyl’s body.
The creature collapsed, leaving its back open to attack. Gevery’s squad joined Yaliana in stabbing the pterodactyl until it quit moving and squawking.
They heaved the carcass into the courtyard, because some of the people in the compound liked to make things out of the bone armour and tough leather. Of course, they cleaned it thoroughly of the thick and potent stench.
Yaliana took off her helmet to wipe sweat from her brow. Her tight, black curls were damp, and she looked forward to a shower.
Gevery removed his helmet as well, and grinned, his generous mouth curved upward. “We got another one, Yaliana,” he said triumphantly. “We’ll get a pay raise out of this one, surely.”
“With any hope,” Yaliana said, smiling back. “That was a tough one.”
“Must have been an older creature. The young ones have less armour.”
“Shift change is soon. Let’s go. We’ve earned it.”
* * * *
After getting out of her suit and showering, Yaliana followed the rest of the knights to the cantina. It was time to get in some hard-earned downtime after a long day’s work. Yaliana’s squad and Gevery’s squad were closer than others, particularly because they always shared the same shifts.
All the facilities were constructed out of thick walls made of the same abenite that was mined from the ground. The steel workers made their material from the abenite right here in the compound. It was an element similar to iron, but extremely hard and durable, even more so than iron. Their final product was called abenite steel, tough enough to withstand attacks by the pteros.
“How’s the family, Besry?” asked Gevery as they made their way to the cantina.
“The kids are coming along,” said Besry. “They’re growing fast.”
“And your husband is looking after them today?” asked Yaliana.
“He looks after them most days.” Besry laughed. “He works on his geology stuff from home.”
“I never did understand the science side of things,” Gevery admitted, scratching his scalp. “Always went over my head.”
Yaliana shrugged. “From what I understand, they can find the best rock to mine for minerals.”
“We all do our parts,” said Besry. “Some people find the minerals, others mine it, some people feed us, and we protect the compound from wild things. We all contribute.”
“Not sure what the boss’ daughter does,” someone piped up from behind them.
“We’ve talked about this before,” Besry said. “Just because Ulissa only seems interested in tinkering around with flora and fauna doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a purpose.”
“I heard the boss wants her to marry someone from the Escazi Corporation,” another voice added. “Join up Escazi and Wacuma Abena so that we can work together.”
Yaliana’s heart clenched. She couldn’t imagine Ulissa as the wife of some corporate man. But then, Yaliana didn’t want to imagine Ulissa as the wife of anyone. Except maybe herself. Yaliana cringed away from that thought, because there was no way Ulissa would ever like her, especially not in that way. Ulissa always avoided Yaliana, and if they ever encountered one another, they hardly spoke at all.
“Hey, Yaliana, head in the clouds!” Gevery said. “What are you thinking?”
“Probably her secret lover!” Besry laughed again.
The squads had been teasing her about a secret lover ever since they found out she liked someone. Once, she’d paused too often when asked if she did, and it wasn’t especially hard to suss out that she had feelings for someone, but wouldn’t tell them who. Sometimes they made up silly stories about it to tease her.
The two squads entered the cantina and took up a whole table. They ordered beers all around, and Yaliana settled in to relax. This was the best part of her day, usually, unless she got a glimpse of Ulissa from the top of the wall.
Gevery sat next to her. Without his armour suit, he was taller than Yaliana by about three inches, and she was pretty tall herself. Even without his suit, he was something of a mountain. “So, Yaliana, what are your thoughts for today?” He usually asked her this question after a long day’s work, and usually, she had something interesting to say.
“I don’t really have any today,” Yaliana said. “Most days are the same anyway. Get up, guard the compound, fight the pteros, and rest.”
“At least we fought our way up the ranks and are no longer on night shift.”
“True that. Pteros are hard to see at night.”
“Have you ever thought about getting out of here? Finding a job somewhere else?”
“We’ve sworn an oath. We can’t leave.”
“I’m just saying, if you think it’s the same, day after day. Have you ever thought about what’s out there in the wide universe?”
“Sure I have,” she said. “It must be so much to take in, though, all at once.”
“If only we weren’t so far out,” he said. “There’s hardly any other people out here. Just the Escazi clan over on Mawar and us on Harr.”
“Don’t forget th
“They don’t count. They just arrived. We’ve been here for decades. We were born here and raised for this.”
“They’ve been out there, among the stars,” Yaliana said. “Can you imagine?”
“I can, but like you said, we made an oath, one that you yourself said we can’t break.”
“Do you think Boss Wakuma is holding up his end of the deal?”
“Yes, so far. I don’t have any evidence that he’s ever betrayed us
“That’s true. I just wish…wish that we could explore sometimes, you know?”
“I hear you. Get off this death planet and give up fighting for a while. One day, do you think we’ll ever have a chance?”
“If we do, it will be once we’re retired and too old to fight,” she said with a sigh of regret.
“Here comes our beer,” said Gevery. “Let’s just forget about that for a little while, shall we?”
* * * *
Yaliana heard the news in the cantina the next day—Ulissa was missing.
At first, Yaliana was certain Ulissa must be hiding on the compound, because someone resourceful enough could, indeed, find a nice hiding nook somewhere. It allowed Yaliana to believe, for a little while, that there was nothing to worry about. In fact, in her mind, there could be nothing to worry about, because it was inconceivable that Ulissa could be anywhere but in a safe place.
“There’s no way she could have left,” Gevery said. “All of the ships are present and accounted for, all the ground vehicles are in their bays. She’s hiding somewhere on the base, you mark my words.”
Yaliana didn’t even consider that she could be anywhere outside. The numerous perils, the large, dangerous wild animals, made it far too dangerous for anyone except a knight to venture out. The pteros were the main worry, of course, because they could fly, but other creatures out there—carnivores and herbivores alike—hated the sight of humans, wanting to kill them for the invaders they were. Even knights didn’t go far, and only to find more drilling sites for minerals, keeping the scientists protected.
The dangers even included the plant life. There had been reports of carnivorous plants eating creatures as large as a rhinoceros, so they’d be able to devour humans in a snap.
Yaliana felt a stir of concern. She knew she shouldn’t be harbouring feelings for the boss’ daughter, but she had for a long time. She still remembered when it had first happened. She had been sixteen, hard in training to be a knight. She and Gevery had been practicing hand-to-hand combat in the gym. Her glance had happened to fall on a girl sitting on the side, watching them practice. Their eyes had met, and it had been so distracting, that Gevery had managed to easily throw her down to the mat.
Ever since then, she’d been on the lookout for Ulissa. Yaliana had tried so hard to learn tidbits of information about her, and it had been difficult, because Ulissa was so secretive. Yaliana had asked people about her and had even taken to following her around without her noticing. Ulissa probably had noticed, though, and eventually Yaliana had stopped, because she didn’t want to scare the woman. She still saw Ulissa around the compound sometimes, but always kept her distance.
It couldn’t be possible Ulissa was on the outside, but days went by without any sighting of her. Yaliana went from being completely sure that Ulissa was okay, to certain she was in grave peril. It was possible to disappear in the compound, but not for days on end. Yaliana didn’t know what to do, and it was driving her crazy. She often paced and couldn’t keep still, and her jittery nerves had started to affect the other knights as well. Yaliana prayed to some deity out there that Ulissa was safe, wherever she was.
All the while she was praying and hoping, the search continued. The base was turned on end looking for her, the storehouses searched, the vehicles counted and recounted, and people questioned. Yaliana wasn’t part of the search crew, but she wished she was, just so she would know what was going on. This void of information wasn’t helping with her mental state.
By the end of day three, Yaliana was ready to panic.
* * * *
On the fourth day, the boss called the squad leaders together.
“I need your help,” Boss Wakuma said. “Ulissa has disappeared, and the only possible explanation is she has gone outside.”
Everyone murmured in concern. That Boss Wakuma could possibly think that Ulissa had gone outside the walls meant the whole base had been turned upside down and she hadn’t been found.
“We found that some of the stores of field rations have also disappeared,” Boss Wakuma continued. “That, plus enough supplies to survive for a week. We think she is trying to reach the nearest compound from here.”
“That’s impossible,” Gevery spoke up. “No one has ever stayed that long in the field.”
“That’s why I need you to go out and look for her,” Boss Wakuma said. “If there’s a chance she is still alive, I want her found.”
“What if she refuses to come back with us?” asked Yaliana. “She must have run away for a reason.”
Boss Wakuma looked grave for a moment. “Yes, I was pushing for her to marry Xavier Escazi, one of the younger sons of the Escazi Corporation. But I have reconsidered. I have seen the error of my actions, and I just want my daughter home safe.” He paused, taking a deep breath, clenching and unclenching his fists, as if on the verge of an outburst of emotion. “If you find her, you can tell her I won’t ask her to marry against her will.”
This sounded complicated to Yaliana, but she stayed quiet. She felt a clench in her chest at the thought that Ulissa was in harm’s way, and the thought that she could be dead sent a thrill of fear through her.
She remembered Ulissa as a quiet, shy girl, who never talked to the knights, keeping her head down whenever she passed by. So to think that she had gotten up the nerve not only to defy her father, but to run away into the jungle, was incredible.
Ulissa had jade green eyes speckled with brown, and dreadlocks, which she kept neatly tied back. Yaliana thought she was pretty, but of course, she had no chance with the boss’ daughter, no way, no how. Yaliana was smart enough for an ordinary knight, but she was nowhere near the intelligence of someone like Ulissa, who studied all the time. She wouldn’t challenge her enough. Besides, there was no way that Ulissa’s father would approve of a lowly knight approaching his princess.
As soon as they were dismissed, all the knights began preparations for an expedition into the jungle. They powered up armour, stockpiled weapons, put supplies into vehicles, and assigned mounts. The compound had been on Harr for several decades, and in that time, one of the species of the planet had been domesticated. They also had thick bone armour, and copious amounts of thick, coarse hair. The knights called them yaks, because of the long hair. They were tough and strong enough to carry a knight in full armour, a considerable feat.
The preparations were finished, and Boss Wakuma wanted them to set out right away. He gathered the sergeants in the main courtyard, where they usually gathered before a scientific expedition.
Gevery looked at Yaliana, then set down his pack. “Sir, we can’t set out now, the night comes soon.”
“Every moment you wait, my daughter has less chance of survival,” Boss Wakuma replied, also looking at Yaliana.
“The night is dangerous for us to travel, and we might miss a sign from Ulissa in the dark,” argued Gevery.
Yaliana felt at war with herself and kept silent, because she wasn’t sure whose side to argue on. On one hand, she felt the same urgency as Boss Wakuma to get out and search, no matter the time of day. It had already been four days. What if Ulissa’s chances of survival went down while they delayed? On the other hand, she could see Gevery’s point. It was certainly more dangerous at night, and missing anything in the dark would possibly impede their final goal of finding Ulissa.
Her gut churned with indecision, and with fear for Ulissa.
A compromise was made that they would start out at dawn, as soon as there was enough light. That meant that everyone had to be in place before then. Yaliana sighed. They wouldn’t get much sleep this night.
* * * *
The dawn came, and the dim light coloured everything a soupy grey. The compound doors opened to let out the knights. Only a few would stay behind to guard the compound, pulling double and even triple shifts to make up for the absence of their fellows. The jungle stirred around them as animals went about their business.
