The Watchers Chapter 6

IN THE TENTH YEAR OF RECAB, KING OF DISHON
Rodens lay in a small pool of his own blood. His head was turned toward the wall, making it so Pericula could not see his face. His hands lay sprawled out slightly beyond his head. He was completely motionless.
Pericula removed a small object from her waist, pistol like in configuration. It was called a burner, because it shot forth an energy beam that caused severe burns on its target. She aimed the burner at Rodens. "Rodens, you even try to move and I'll boil your blood so that you could make a hot spring jealous." To late, Pericula realized the futility of her threat. Someone who was willing to cut themselves into subconscious probably didn't care about being burned. Her hand turned down the knob that controlled the energy barrier at the cell's entrance. The energy went to zero.
Pericula looked at Rodens. He was still motionless. Ever so carefully, she approached him, keeping the burned aimed at him all the time. She knelt down and gently touched his shoulder, her nerves wound so tight she felt they could snap any moment. Her hand leaped away the first time it touched his body, but when he did not move, she slowly lowered her hand again. Again she pulled it back rapidly as soon as it had contacted his shoulder, but when he still did not move, she felt safe enough to grab hold of him. As she turned him over, she felt the sticky warmth of his blood against her hands. His front side was a mess of cuts with a mix of dried and partially dried blood. Pericula removed a round object, what we would equate as about the size of a baseball. She placed it above his body, and stepped back. The ball turned from its black color to a bright red and made a soft humming sound as it hovered above him. The blood on Rodens body disappeared, and the cuts were healed. The ball turned back to its original black color and the humming sound ceased. Rodens body looked perfectly healthy. Even the blood around him had been absorbed by the ball, which still hovered above him.
As Pericula came to retrieve the ball, Rodens foot flashed out and hit her in the stomach before she could fire the burner. Pericula recovered from the blow almost instantly, but that was all the time Rodens needed to get to his feet. Pericula's finger touched the fire button on the burner just a fraction of a second after Rodens' hand grabbed her wrist, and jerked it away from its position, aimed towards him. The blast hit the wall harmlessly. Pericula's right fist hit Rodens face, sending him stumbling backwards. When he recovered his balance he saw the burner aimed right at him. He moved quickly, lunging for Pericula, but was not quick enough to avoid her aim. His right shoulder was hit by the burner. The smell of charred flesh filled the air. As he collided with Pericula, he found his entire right arm to be useless in the struggle. They both fell to the floor from the collision, Rodens landing on top of Pericula. With his left hand, Rodens grabbed the burner, and tried to wrestle it out of Pericula's right hand. Pericula's other hand struck Rodens face, and proceeded to push his head as far away as she could. Rodens was able to twist Pericula's arm until she was forced to drop the weapon. No sooner had the burner left her hand, then Pericula's knee came up swiftly, making contact with Roden's stomach. As Rodens face showed his pain, Pericula's right fist landed on his jaw. His head jerked back, and she hit him again. He fell off her. Immediately she rolled over to her stomach and reached for the burner. It was out of her grasp. She was about crawl towards it Rodens leaped on her back, holding her from advancing. She strained to reach the burner, but he back her hand. They grappled for a moment, each trying to reach the burner while holding the other one back, but Pericula clearly had the advantage, having the use of one more arm. Rodens concluded she would inevitably be the one to reach the weapon, so he decided to gain the advantage by being the first one on his feet. While Pericula grabbed the burner, he jumped to an upright position. As she turned to fire at him, he kicked the device out of her hand. He then repeatedly kicked her. Before she could counterattack he had leaped away and was running for the burner. She saw the danger of the situation at once, and ran after him. Rodens reached the burner first and turned around to fire the weapon. In his haste he paid no heed to Pericula's safety, and the blast hit her in the face.
Rodens sighed with relief, and turned to look at the injury. His shoulder was completely black and charred, yet he felt no pain. He reasoned his nerves must have been burned out. He grabbed the ball from the place where it had remained hovering, and waited as it healed his wound. After the ball had stopped moving, he rotated his right arm. His shoulder felt perfectly normal. Rodens then placed the ball above Pericula, and as he heard it humming he exited the cell and turned the forcefield back on. Holding the burner ready, he raced down the hall.


Hans had returned to be welcomed as a hero by some, and scorned by others. There was no debate however, he was the man of the hour. His leadership had allowed the mission to operate smoothly and successfully. All the Icelers had been evacuated, and the ships had taken great care not to be seen by any other life forms. Since the Coler Mountains were inhabited only by the Icelers, no one saw the ships take of from the hangers hidden beneath the mountain, and only those that could fly saw the ships flying above the clouds. Most controversial was the fact that The Watchers had told their secret to the Icelers, but the Icelers had promised to keep their secret.
Hans feet had hardly touched the ground of his city, when he was whisked to the ceremony. He was asked to give an impromptu speech, at which he did his best. Then he had to shake what seemed like thousands of hands, before being given a medal of service by Jistap. Immediately after the ceremony, Hans had stayed to receive the congratulations of many.
Hans had arrived back at his house exhausted. He knew he should try and get to sleep, but he was to excited. He had never received as much recognition in his life as he had at the ceremony. More then half the city must have been there to cheer him. Hans decided to try and relax by viewing what can be described as The Watcher equivalent of television. As Hans was watching the television, he heard the familiar voice of the Executor. "Incoming message."
"Put it through. This is Hans, can I help you?"
"Hans, this is Jistap. We've got a problem. Go to location seven, I'll explain when you get there."


Bakes frantically leaned over his computer, calling out commands and pushing buttons. He had left the ceremony as early as he could and rushed to location number three. He had found Pericula, lying in the cell unconscious. Rodens was nowhere in sight. By having the Teacher show him the events that had happened only moments before, Bakes saw the struggle that had occurred between Pericula and Rodens, and he saw how Pericula had been defeated, but completely healed by the ball. Once he was sure she was completely healed, he gently woke her up. He then tried to track down Rodens movements.
The Teacher showed him that Rodens had ran down to the hanger bay. He had taken a ship and flown away. It was illegal for a Watcher to leave the city without permission from the government, but in the confusion of people and ships entering and leaving the city to save the Icelers, Rodens managed to sneak out quite easily. Taking a small one man craft he had headed off towards the North Pole, where the Icelers had been shipped. Bakes had tried to recall the ship from the city, but Rodens had disconnected the link between the ship and the city. Getting it back would be hard, if not impossible. If anybody could do it, Bakes knew it was him and he worked all the harder.
Bakes tried to tune out Jistap. In the same room, Jistap was explaining to the other eleven what the situation was. "Bakes is working hard," said Jistap, as he continued his update. "But it looks like we won't be able to reestablish the link. It appears very likely that Rodens is out for blood, or maybe I should say water. We think he's going to kill the Icelers. We need a volunteer to get out there and stop him, ASAP. A ship has been made ready. Do we have any volunteers?"
Bakes almost raised his hand, thinking this was all his fault for sending Pericula into that cell alone, but he stopped. He knew he was needed here. Both Pericula's and Hans' hand shot up.
"Let me go," pleaded Pericula. "I was the one who let him out, let me be the one who tracks him down."
"No, let me go," Hans insisted. "Rodens is my friend. It was my bad acting that allowed him to discover the plot in the first place. Let me be the one stops him. He's still my friend, I'll be able to reason with him."
"He must be stopped, whatever the cost is. That is your first concern. You can reason with him later. Is that understood?" Hans nodded. "Good. Rodens has made his ship invisible to sensors. Do the same to your ship. He will not be able to find you, unless you communicate with the city. He would then be able to track down the origin of the communication to your ship. For that reason, we'll have to sever the link between the city and your ship. That means you won't be able to benefit from the images the satellite is sending. In other words, you'll have no idea where Rodens is, and be left to your own wits to track him down. Fortunately he'll be in the same position. We'll monitor your progress, and if you get in trouble we'll help you out, but other then that your on your own."
"I understand."
"Excellent. Hans, come with me. The rest of you are dismissed."
The other ten got up and left, while Hans went over to talk to Jistap. "Before I leave, there's just one problem we have to settle. Our mission has been accomplished, all the Icelers are at the north pole. It's time to turn ourselves in."
"I believe the conditions were once all of the Icelers were safe, and as you can see, they are in great danger." Jistap noticed the concerned look on Hans face. "Don't worry. I promise, once this whole thing is over, we'll turn ourselves in. Until then, we've got lives to save."


Hans had immediatly taken the super elevator to the hanger. The ship was ready and waiting, and Hans was helped into the cockpit by a couple of mechanics, who weren't quite sure what was going on. The ship was identical to the one Rodens had taken off in. It was short and sleek, less then seven meters long, four meters wide, and barely high enough for Hans to stand up. It's interior consisted of everything Hans would need to stay alive for however long this adventure took him, a synthesizer, a bed, and a computer. It could be adjusted to any temperature Hans wanted, and used a fuel supply that would recharge automatically, and allowed the ship to fly for twelve hours straight without recharging. As soon as Hans was in the cockpit, the hanger bay doors opened and Hans took off, flying at maximum speed. Hans glanced at the instruments, and realized with dread that it would take him an hour even at this speed to reach the north pole. Rodens already had a hour and a half head start on him. Hans looked at a box in near the back of the craft, filled with weapons of all kinds. He felt sick as it dawned on him that Rodens had the same box in his ship, plus each ship had the massive laser cannons mounted on it. If Rodens truly was intent on destroying the Icelers, he had the potential to do great damage. One shot with a burner could melt the whole Iceler. Hans quivered as he imagined the horror in store for the Icelers.