The New Era Chapter 9

IN THE FIRST YEAR OF THE NEW ERA
It felt good to have things finally returned to normal, Hans thought to himself, as he took a leisurely stroll through one of the city's many gardens. The artificial sky did not look quite as impressive to Hans as it usually did, now that Hans had seen what the real sky looked like first hand, yet it was so well constructed that Hans couldn't pinpoint the difference between this sky and the real one.
Hans took a deep, relaxing breath. Things couldn't look better. Last night Bakes had made a speech to the people. He had promised to return democracy in two weeks. Jistap's dreadful new world order was history. Livius was on his way now to pick up Gaius and Pericula, who had been informed last night of the changes.
Hans was still thinking about Livius bringing Gaius and Pericula back home, when Livius himself rushed passed him. Hans immediately turned around and grabbed Livius' arm. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be picking up Gaius and Pericula now."
"The executor is refusing to open any of the doors. I can't get out of the city."
"What?"
"I don't know what's going on, but I'm going to see Bakes now."
Hans nodded his agreement. "Good idea, if any one can figure this out it's Bakes."


Gaius entered Pericula's tent. "The messenger said you wanted to see me?"
"Yes," Pericula held up her computer pad, "it's another message from Bakes." Gaius leaned over her shoulder, and Pericula pressed a button, revealing Bakes' face on the monitor.
"Greetings, Pericula and Gaius," Bakes said. "I hope you are both well." Pericula and Gaius both nodded. "I'll get right to the point. By this time Livius should have already picked you up. No doubt you're wondering where he is. Well, somehow, someway, someone managed to seal all the doors to the city. All the Watchers are trapped inside, and you are trapped outside."
"Wait a minute," Pericula interrupted, "are you saying that whoever did this has done it so well that even you can't undo what was done?"
"I am well known among the Watchers for my skill in manipulating the computers, but this is a mystery to me. Whoever did this knows more about computers then I do, then anyone in Watcher history ever did. I think we have two options to consider, either this person is the greatest genius in all of Fabulae, or we are dealing with someone who isn't a Watcher. Perhaps the people who designed this place."
Pericula gasped. "Are you serious?"
Bakes shrugged. "It's a good guess. This program definitely shows a greater understanding of the computers then I could otherwise explain. Anyway, the point is your on your own for now, perhaps forever. I don't know if I can ever get these doors to open again. I'll keep in touch, but until then you'll have to survive by yourself. I'll call you again soon." The monitor then went blank.
The news stunned Pericula. She just stood still for a moment, not believing what she had just heard. After a couple minutes, she shook herself out of the trance, and turned to put the computer pad away. Her back was to Gaius, and so she did not see him pick up the wooden chair that sat next to her bed. Gaius brought down the chair unto Pericula's head with all the strength he had. As chair splintered into many pieces, Pericula fell to the ground unconscious. Gaius laughed triumphantly as he tore up Pericula's tent, looking for the laser guns. When he found them, there would be no one to stop him this time. As Bakes said, he was on his own.
When Gaius finally stopped searching through Pericula's tent, it was unrecognizable. He had thrown everything out of place, leaving no corner unchecked, and yet he still had not found the guns. "Of course," he thought to himself, "she wouldn't hide the guns in her own tent, she knows that's the first place I'd look. The guns could be anywhere in the camp, but I'll find them."
Gaius rushed out of the tent, and ran toward the well. "Get me Blanka," he yelled, "and hurry."


Kile walked through the rows of tents. All the soldiers were out being drilled, and the camp was practically deserted. Kile could see no one around him.
Suddenly, an arrow flew past him. The arrow had come dangerously close to hitting him right in the back. Kile whirled around to see his attacker, but he saw no one. Whoever it was, he was hidden somewhere, probably behind a tent.
Kile's first impulse was to run. His foe obviously had the advantage, and until Kile could find out where he was hidden, he was a sitting duck. Kile suppressed the urge. If there was a murderer in the camp he needed to be found now. Kile drew his sword and took cover behind a tent.
No sooner had Kile leaned against the tent, when another arrow barely missed him. This time, the arrow had been shot from the other direction. Also, this time Kile could see his attacker. A man a couple tents down had shot the arrow. Kile charged towards him. The man realized he would not have time to fit another arrow, so he also drew his sword. The man parried Kile's first attack, a downward sweep made with the sword, then punched Kile with his left hand. Kile stumbled backwards a couple feet, but regained his balance in time to parry the mans thrust. The two began a furious sword fight, so furious that Kile didn't notice his other attacker, who had moved from his hiding place behind the tent and was now quietly moving behind Kile. He drew his sword, and ran so he could stab Kile in the back. Kile heard his footsteps, and moved out of the way just in time, receiving only a minor cut on his side.
Kile, realizing that two against one were not good odds, decided now might be a good time to leave the fight. He remembered the faces of the two soldiers, and they could be punished later. Kile ran with the two soldiers in pursuit.
Running as fast as he could, Kile took all sorts of sharp turns, weaving in and out of the tents in an attempt to lose his pursuers, but to no effect. Eventually, Kile's path led him right to Drusus.
Kile was surprised to see that Drusus was fighting two attackers of his own. One was in front of him. Drusus kicked this one, and he fell to the ground. Drusus then turned around to engage the other one, coming from behind. Drusus caught the mans wrist as the man tried to thrust his sword into him. Then Drusus punched the man with his left arm. While the man was still dazed, Drusus let go of his wrist and kicked him hard in the face. The man fell to the ground. Both men started to get up, and Drusus got ready to fight them, but when he heard Kile yelling for help, Drusus rushed to his defence.
Kile ran past Drusus. As soon as Kile was passed him, Drusus came to a stop. Kile turned around and came back to help Drusus. He engaged one of the men in a sword fight, while Drusus faced the other man.
Drusus' opponent, seeing that Drusus was unarmed, sneered and charged toward him. Drusus dodged his first sword thrust, then kicked the hand in which he held the sword. The sword flew out of his hand, and before the man knew what to do next, Drusus covered his face in a flurry of punches. Soon the man was on the ground.
Drusus then came over to help Kile. Drusus punched Kile's opponent several times from behind. Before the man could even turn around he was knocked to the ground.
"Lets get out of here," Kile said, "before they can get back on their feet." Kile and Drusus took to their heels, and didn't stop running until they were a safe distance away.
After they had recovered their breath, Kile turned to Drusus and said, "you're amazing. I can't believe you took down four men unarmed."
Drusus smiled. "I was trained in hand to hand fighting quite extensively in Quintel's court." Seeing the confused look on Kile's face, Drusus added, "it's a long story. I'll tell you later."
Kile shook his head confused. "Four assassins? What's going on? Why would anyone want to kill us?" Suddenly, Kile and Drusus both looked at each other. Each could tell the other was thinking the same thing he was.
"You don't think Gaius has anything to do with this?" Drusus asked.
"We'd better make sure Pericula is okay." Both men dashed off towards Pericula's tent.


Kirtten ran towards his tent. He could see someone was inside it. Kirtten burst through the doorway to see Gaius. "What are you doing?" he shouted. The tent was a mess. Kirtten's carefully ordered belongings had been thrown every which way, and Gaius was in the middle of the disaster. Gaius had his back to the door, and he turned around slowly. "What are you doing?" Kirtten repeated.
Gaius had a dagger in his hand, that he had positioned such that it was hidden by his arm. He threw it at Kirtten suddenly and without warning. The blade went right through Kirtten's left hand.
Kirtten yelled out in pain and fell to a kneeling position. He gritted his teeth against the pain, and pulled the dagger from his hand. Gaius drew his sword, one he had acquired during his stay in Calet, and ran toward Kirtten. Kirtten had no time to draw his sword, and simply steeled himself for the death blow. Gaius didn't kill Kirtten though, just threw him to the ground.
Gaius pointed his sword at Kirtten's throat. "Where are the laser guns?" he asked.
"I'm not telling you."
Gaius gave Kirtten a slash down his cheek with the sword. "Tell me or I'll kill you."
Kirtten gazed fearfully at Gaius. After a moment he said, "alright, you win. They're in Pericula's tent."
Gaius slashed Kirtten's other cheek. "You're lying to me. I'll give you one last chance to tell the truth or I'll cut off your arms."
Kirtten sighed, disgusted at himself for his cowardice. "They're in Kile's tent, buried under his bed in a chest."
Gaius smiled. From the look in Kirtten's eyes he was convinced he was telling the truth. "Thank you very much Kirtten." Gaius swung his sword, cutting off Kirtten's head. He then rushed toward Kile's tent.
Digging furiously in the ground, Gaius soon unearthed the chest. He pulled it out of the hole and set it on his lap. Then, with trembling fingers, Gaius opened it up. Both of the laser guns were there. Gaius shouted with delight. He rushed outside of the tent, firing both laser guns in his joy, shouting, "now, let chaos reign."
Gaius knew he was back in control. Blanka and his men were going to kill Pericula and the other senior officers. Gaius had already killed one of them. He cursed himself for not killing Pericula when he had the chance. No matter, he thought, I'll just kill her now.


Drusus rushed into Pericula's tent, with Kile close behind. Pericula lay motionless on the ground, face first. Drusus felt her pulse. "She's alive," he declared. Carefully, Drusus and Kile turned her over too her front side. "Go get some cold water," Drusus instructed. Kile ran out. Drusus looked and saw that Pericula was still breathing. The broken chair gave Drusus a pretty good idea of what had happened. Kile soon returned with the water, and Drusus gently began to apply it to Pericula's face. Slowly she regained conscious.
"What happened?" she asked.
Before Drusus could answer, Gaius appeared in the doorway holding both laser guns. "Well well well," he said, "three birds with one stone."