Chapter 16 - Herzon

They finished their training session late in the afternoon. In fact it was already getting dark outside. Tobok roused Emma from her meditation and she had to admit that she did feel better, calmer. Shnooby rolled over onto his haunches and stood up. He stretched lazily and looked straight at Emma as he wagged his tail.

“Do you need to go, Big Guy?” she asked him.

He just wagged his tail even harder in response.

She took him to the bath area in her room and patiently waited for him to finish. When she came back to the kitchen, Tobok already had their meal started. For some reason Emma was starving. She couldn’t understand why since all she did all afternoon was basically sit and meditate. Shnooby also ate ravenously. Tobok guessed that it might be due to the changes that they were both still going through.

“You mean that you think Shnooby might come up with some new abilities as well?” Emma asked Tobok.

“It is very possible. Our examinations of Shnooby showed that his metabolism was much more active than a normal Venok as defined from the data we were able to download from the ship that we found him on. I would not be surprised that wings would sprout from his back one day,” he replied with a smile on his furry face.

“That is not funny. In fact it might be me that sprouts the wings not him.” She never really thought of what else she might be able to do. She had guessed that it would not involve a change in her appearance but that last crack from Tobok really scared her.

“Do not worry, your abilities have so far been very similar to Vanguard abilities and none of them involve changes in appearance,” he told her reassuringly. “Come, we must prepare for our visit.”

They dressed in clean robes, hers were again typical of an initiate and Tobok’s included a new insignia depicting his new rank. She brushed Shnooby until his coat practically glowed. The amount of hair that she brushed out could have stuffed a full size mattress back on Earth. She was amazed at how much hair Shnooby had.

“Do Venoks shed allot?” she asked Tobok suddenly.

“I do not know, so little is known of them. Make a list of questions, who knows you might get some answers from our host.” Emma quickly cleaned up the mess and then they were finally ready.

They left their quarters and made their way down to the lower levels. Tobok explained that the Hunzack had specifically requested quarters on the lower levels to allow easier access to the outside so that they could have someplace for their Venoks to get some exercise.

As they turned into the Hunzack wing Emma noticed an immediate change. Hunzack guards stood at the entrance. These were dressed differently than the others she had seen. They were wearing clothes made of heavy leather and had weapons hanging from their belts. They did not even glance at them as they passed by. Farther down the hall she noticed that the walls were filled with intricate hangings. They were surprisingly colorful and showed people hunting huge fierce looking animals. The detail was amazing, they almost looked like photographs. She went over to look at one more closely and saw that they were made of strings of what looked like different colored beads.

“Bone fragments,” Tobok said while she was trying to get a closer look at one of the “beads”.

“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Emma.

“It looked like you were wondering what the hangings were made of - bone fragments,” he said matter of factly.

“You mean these little beads are actually bones?” asked a shocked Emma.

“Yes. The Hunzack are masters of this “bone art”. It is one of their chief exports and they are prized throughout the Union,” replied Tobok.

Tobok gave Emma time to absorb this before they continued down the hallway. There were rooms on either side of the hall but none had doors as big as the ones to the room at the end of the hall. Two more guards stood at these doors dressed just like the first ones. These guards were a little different, though. As they approached, the guards shifted their positions to block the doors. They looked Emma, Tobok and Shnooby over very carefully. Finally one of them demanded, “State your business!”

“We are here at the invitation of a person named Herzon. My name is Tobok and this here is Emma of Earth and the Venok is named Shnooby.”

It appeared that the guards were told of her impending visit because their only response was, “You may enter.” They resumed their original positions at the sides of the doors. As they did so the doors opened all by themselves. Emma took one more look at the guards and then passed through the opening. Inside they found a roaring bonfire in the center of a hall almost as large as the one where she first met the twins. Around the fire stood long semi-circular tables and large heavy wooden chairs. As they made their way around the fire they saw a large wooden throne that was set up on a wooden platform and on that throne sat Herzon.

“Greetings! I see that you have brought a guest and such an important one at that. Am I correct in assuming that I am addressing 2^nd Level Adept Tobok?”

If Tobok was surprised he did not show it. “You are indeed correct, sir. It is an honor to meet you,” he replied respectfully.

Herzon bowed his head, “Let me formally introduce myself, I am Huntmaster Herzon Razorclaw of the Legendary Razorclaw Clan. I have already had the pleasure of meeting Emma of Earth and Shnooby. Now since we have made all of the introductions that need to be made let us sit comfortably and enjoy some refreshment.” He then rose from his throne and motioned them to a table that had been set up especially for their visit.

As soon as they all sat down, other Hunzack came out and brought plates filled with different types of meat, bowls filled with brightly colored fruit, and mugs filled with fruit juices. They even brought out a separate bowl filled to the top with meat for Shnooby. Emma tried her drink and found it delicious.

“I hope that the food meets with your approval?” Herzon asked after draining his glass.

“It is very good. It reminds me of orange juice back on Earth,” Emma replied.

“Really? You have something like this on your home world? I had thought that we were the only ones. You will have to tell me of your world sometime. For now, we need to discuss your friend over there. I need you to tell me exactly how you came to be such good friends. Venoks do not give their loyalty easily.”

“Before we begin, may I ask why you are so interested in the circumstances of their meeting?” asked Tobok carefully.

“Since you have been gone from Vihara for so long I will forgive and even answer your question. You might know that we Hunzack have been a very private people. We take pride in our hunting abilities and we share a very close bond with our hunting animals, the Venoks. Because of this we are very protective of them and our own laws prohibit anyone except for a Hunzack to possess one. One of our other laws expressly prohibits artificial tampering with them in anyway. So, as we see it, we have a twofold problem. Being the highest designated Hunzack official here at Mar Saba it is my duty to investigate and rule on both matters.”

“If it was not for Emma, Shnooby would have torn himself apart. As far as finding out who was tampering with him just ask your own government! We sent the craft and all of its contents minus Shnooby back to US Central. Your government has all of the information that we do. The way it looks some of your very own people have been tampering with Venoks and they were doing it outside of US territory,” Tobok replied hotly.

Herzon made no reply. It was Emma who spoke up next, “It’s OK Tobok. I’ll let him know what I saw.”

And so Emma described everything that she saw in Shnooby’s head. She told him everything except for the voice that told her how to help Shnooby. She didn’t think that Herzon had to know every last detail.

As she was telling her story, Herzon listened with great intensity. When she was done he did not say anything for a long time. When he did speak he merely said, “Fascinating!”

It was then that the space where Shnooby was laying exploded. When they turned to see what happened they saw Shnooby standing on top of one of the Hunzack who had served the food. Shnooby was snarling and had his secondary claws extended.

“Shnooby! Stop that! Come here right now!” cried Emma.

Shnooby looked back at Emma, his disposition softening as he did so. He reluctantly got off of the servant and went back to Emma, his tail between his legs.

“What did he do to him? Shnooby wouldn’t just jump up and attack like that,” Emma asked Herzon angrily.

“I do not know but I will find out!”

Two guards showed up then. Herzon made some hand gestures and they grabbed the servant and took him away.

“Please forgive me but I must see to this matter immediately. I presume that you know the way out.” Herzon got up quickly and left the room.

All Tobok and Emma could do is stare at each other is disbelief. They got up slowly and made their way back to the hall entrance. When they were out in the hallway and were out of earshot of the guards Emma asked, “What was that all about?”

“I do not know but it must have been serious. Is Shnooby alright?”

Emma knelt down beside him and checked him thoroughly. He seemed to be fine except for one thing. His ear was bent back so that she could see the inside of it. It was then that she noticed symbols written inside his ear. “Look at this,” she said.

Tobok bent over to take a look. “Looks like a tattoo. It is some sort of identification, I think. How did a simple servant know where to look for such a mark? Why would a simple servant even care?”

“It seemed to upset Herzon allot. What does it mean?” she asked.

“I do not know but I think that we will be keeping a closer watch over the Hunzack from now on. Come let us go!”

Chapter 17 – The Fight

The new training cycle started and Emma was kept busy with the grueling schedule that Tobok and the twins came up with. It consisted of intensive personal sessions with Tobok to work on her self control and more practical things like biology, mathematics, galactic history, and on the physical side – martial arts. Tobok insisted on this due in part to what happened that evening in the Great Hunzack Hall. It appears that someone had infiltrated the Hunzack and Tobok could not be sure that someone else might have done so in the Vanguard ranks. After that incident, Emma had received an official visit from Herzon himself. The purpose of the visit was to let Emma know that she would be the first and only exception to Hunzack law. Not only did Herzon personally thank Emma for helping uncover a conspiracy to alter Venoks but he also awarded her sole ownership of Shnooby that would be recognized by all of the Hunzack. Herzon also offered her full use of their Venok training and exercise area. Because of what happened with Shnooby, though, Emma declined saying that she would exercise him elsewhere. She ended up taking him out past the gardens. One or twice she had the distinct impression that they were being watched but she never did catch anyone.

She had some classes with Onalen and they became even closer sharing any spare moment they had in their studies. They also had martial arts training together and even though Emma was a novice, her improvement was astounding. Word had gotten out that Emma was a Genek and every other initiate avoided her as if contact with her would somehow make them outcasts as well. That was why she valued her friendship with Onalen even more.

She could tell that Tobok was a little nervous lately. Emma had not exhibited any new abilities since her display of strength with the Hunzack and it seemed that she was due for a new one very soon.

Tobok had decided to expose her to some of the other martial training so that she would get an idea of what other styles were available. One of these was fighting with the kardaz. This was a very light weight but strong sword that ranger initiates used. Tobok had told her that it helped to develop control since the sword could be swung so quickly. That was where they were going to today. The one thing that had Emma concerned was that the rangers usually taught the classes. Thankfully, Tobok was taking her just to observe.

“Hurry Emma, the class is about to start and it is ten levels up,” called Tobok from the door to their quarters. Emma had just finished cleaning up after Shnooby. He had some problems with his stomach and he had trouble making it to the bathroom in time.

“Shnooby had another accident! I’m just finishing up!,” she yelled back. Shnooby seemed better now. She thought about leaving him here to rest but she knew that he would not agree to that.

“You,” she said to him, “have got to let me know way earlier when you have to go, got that?”

He gave her a mournful look that seemed to say, “I’m sorry.” She just couldn’t stay mad at him. She gave him a big hug and pulled her robe over her shoulders.

When they got to the door, Tobok was looking at the chronometer. “Finally! Let us proceed with all due haste!”

They ran down the corridor and up the ten levels in record time. They just made the beginning of the class. Emma still couldn’t believe how far she had come. When she first got here, twelve weeks ago, she would have been panting and wheezing half way up. Now she had not only run up as fast as she could but she hardly felt it. Even Tobok seemed surprised at her progress.

They walked into the hall where the class would be and she saw that there were allot of Hunzack there as well. As they walked over to their seats she felt that someone was staring at her. She turned in the direction of the feeling and caught that same Hunzack boy looking at her. It was the same one that she first saw that day she stopped Herzon’s son from killing Shnooby. She had caught him looking at her several times since then. Every time that she tried to approach him and ask him why he was looking at her he just seemed to disappear into the crowd. She decided to try again and, to her surprise, he did not make any attempt to flee.

“OK, I’ve caught you staring at me quite a few times and I just want to know what your problem is? Want to stare at the Genek freak? Are you wondering if I’ll grow an extra set of arms? Well, what is it that you want?”

He just laughed, “Please forgive me, it is just that you intrigue me. Not many people can make my brother look like a fool and remain among the living.” He said it with such warmth and sincerity that Emma’s defenses instantly collapsed.

“Well, I didn’t mean to do that it’s just that he was going to hurt Shnooby and I…….Wait, what did you say?”

“What do you mean?” he asked with a confused expression on his face.

“That part about your brother,” she replied just as confused.

“Oh, right. My brother is Henior Razorclaw, you know, the one you embarrassed in front of all of his followers,” he replied with a smile on his face.

“Then your father is Herzon Razorclaw?” she asked stupidly.

“Why yes, of course! You made quite the opposite impression with him though. He seems quite taken with you. He likes your courage and tenacity even if you are not a Hunzack.”

“And what is your name?”

“Please forgive me. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Hennock, Henior is my older brother.”

“Pleased to meet you, I think.”

“The pleasure is all mine!”

“Why is that? I mean why were you so happy when I embarrassed your brother?”

“Well, being the younger brother of someone as well liked as Henior is difficult at times. You see, my brother isn’t all that bad. He lets me tag along with him but his adoring public merely tolerates my presence and sometimes, well, most of the time I get lost in the crowd. He wasn’t always like this. We used to be close but as his popularity increased so did the distance between us. Personally he could stand to be taken down a notch or two.”

“Honestly, that’s not why I did it,” she said quickly.

“I know but the end result was the same and for that I wanted to thank you. I just did not know how to approach you.”

“Next time just say, hello.”

“I guess I will,” he replied with that same smile.

“Emma, come now! The instruction is about to begin,” Tobok called out to her from their seats.

“I have to go now.”

“Right, me too. See you around.” He turned and just like before he disappeared into the crowd.

Emma went over to where Tobok was sitting. She made it back just as the speaker started the session. To Emma’s disappointment, the speaker was none other than the captain of the rangers that she met when she arrived here.

They started out with a general explanation and then proceeded with some demonstrations by more advanced listeners. These listeners, though, used not one but two kardaz. It was more like a dance than a fight. They moved with such speed that it was sometimes difficult to see exactly what they were doing. To most they were a blur but not to Emma. She was concentrating on every move. The more she concentrated the slower they moved. She was so engrossed by their movements that she did not hear the speaker call for volunteers. She also did not immediately understand that Tobok was saying something back to him.

“She is a first year initiate. She has never even picked up a kardaz.” That was Tobok.

“This is a training session, Tobok. What better place to pick up a kardaz for the first time than here?” That was the captain.

Emma slowly pulled herself out of her meditative state and realized that they were talking about her. Even the listeners stopped their demonstration. Emma looked over by where the captain stood. One of his lieutenants was standing next to him, whispering something into his ear.

“Come now Tobok, surely you have more faith in your instruction than that,” the captain said with a malicious grin on his face. She so wanted to wipe that grin off of his face. In fact, she knew that she could. Something deep inside her told her that she could.

“You know as well as I do that kardaz instruction can only begin after a listener has thoroughly mastered the hand to hand phase of their training,” replied Tobok hotly.

“Yes and I have heard that your listener has been doing exceptionally well. Someone so….gifted should have no trouble with this basic introduction.”

“It’s OK, Tobok, I’m willing to try,” Emma said confidently. She was so sick of this Genek stuff. The way he said - listener - it sounded an awful lot like Genek to her.

“I do not know about this Emma. I brought you here just to observe not to participate,” he said with a worried expression on his face.

“Come now, Tobok, she herself has said that she is willing to help us in this demonstration. Do you not have any faith in your – listener?” the captain said, arrogance dripping from every word.

“I saw you concentrating on the demonstration,” Tobok whispered to Emma, “Did you get a chance to put into practice some of the concentration exercises I taught you?”

“I think so,” she replied nervously.

“If you want to do this, I will not stand in your way.”

“I want to do it! I am sick of his attitude, all of their attitudes! Besides, it’s just a demonstration isn’t it?”

“It should be. Just be careful and drop the kardaz if you feel it is getting out of control. That is a sign of capitulation and it ends the match.”

“Alright, I will,” she said, her confidence slipping a little.

Tobok got up and escorted Emma over to the weapons table. There she took off her outer robe and Tobok began to attach the various parts of the protective sparring armor. It was then that Emma picked up her first kardaz. It felt strangely familiar in her hand. She tested the weight and did not realize she had picked up another kardaz in her other hand.

“Emma, what are you doing? This demonstration requires one kardaz only,” Tobok told her sternly.

“That is alright, Tobok, my lieutenant is happy to oblige her. This demonstration will now change to two handed kardaz combat.”

Emma looked over and saw that the same lieutenant that was whispering in the captain’s ear was already standing on the practice floor in full armor and holding two kardaz’s as well.

“I must remind you that she is just an initiate, no matter how gifted,” Tobok told the captain.

“Do not worry, we understand her limitations. Shall we begin?”

Emma nodded to Tobok and stepped onto the practice floor. She felt funny again. Her confidence was rapidly deserting her. “Easy now. Left foot in front and the right foot behind with the heel of the left in a direct line with the toes of the right. Bend your knees slightly and distribute your weight evenly.” It was the voice again. “Watch your opponents hands at all times. Do not try to look at the tips of the kardaz’s, they will be moving too fast. Remember with your muscles. Movement is essential, do not stay in one spot.” It just kept on talking, giving her advice that she was rapidly trying to heed. It was then that her opponent attacked. He came in hard and fast. Emma thought that she was done for right then and there. Surprisingly she was now behind him, her blades flashing all around her. The dance had started and she was a prima ballerina. The voice kept on talking. It analyzed the last set of movements and kept helping her adjust her steps, her thrusts, and her parries. The look of surprise on her opponent’s face was very satisfying and it nearly lost the match for her. “Concentrate on the match!” it chided. “Keep your eyes on his hands,” it reminded her. And so they continued. They were moving almost too fast to see. She could tell her opponent was tiring, his movements were not as quick, his timing not as crisp. Emma was able to predict when his next lapse would be and she acted on it. He took a half step back that should have been a full step. This kept him in range when his guard dropped ever so slightly. At that precise moment the voice told Emma what to do. She did a quick spin and instead of having the blades pointing straight out as would be expected she held them at roughly forty five degrees, one up and one down. Her opponent did not expect this. The first cut got him in the thigh, the next one was a deeper one across his entire chest. He went down hard. Emma also stopped her dance. He was breathing heavily, clearly exhausted, and he was bleeding profusely from the cuts she administered. Emma, on the other hand, was not breathing very hard at all. She ended in a combat ready stance facing her opponent.

Now Emma was expecting to get booed but what she did not expect was the dead silence that filled the hall. She looked around and saw that everyone was staring back in disbelief. Everyone except the captain, there she saw outrage.

Someone finally said, “She cut right through the armor!”

This brought everyone out of their daze and the hushed whispers started. She heard “Genek” allot. She then heard something else from the captain.

“This is outrageous! Do I have to do everything around here?!” He was changing into his own armor and picking out his kardaz’s

“What do you think you are doing?” That was Tobok. “She beat your man fairly! Why are you gearing up?”

“There is nothing fair about her and nothing amazing either. I am gearing up to prove it!” He finished with his armor and had two kardaz in his hands. After he stepped onto the practice floor he said to Emma so that everyone could hear, “Come on Genek! It is me you really want to fight, isn’t it? I promise I will make this quick. The faster I put you down the deeper your own humiliation!”

“I must put a stop to this! We are not here to foster feelings of arrogance or pride!” Tobok yelled at him.

Emma heard the voice tell her that she can take him. He was right. It was him she wanted to fight. “It’s OK Tobok. If he wants to fight I will be happy to oblige him.”

She turned to him and immediately heard the voice tell her to purge all hostile feelings

and intentions out of her mind. She had to make sure that her intention is to end the match by disarming him or making the first cut. She had a hard time with that but the voice had been right up to now so she was not about to start ignoring it now.

The captain came in hard, real hard! He was a blur before he ever connected with her blades. A new dance had commenced. The voice was once again analyzing and suggesting at an even faster pace than before. The captain was putting everything he had into the match. Emma almost lost her grip on the kardaz on several occasions but she listened and adjusted. The dance raged on. The voice kept telling her to relax and just flow with the captain’s moves. The whole point was to counter his moves and probe for his weaknesses. The dance continued, seconds leaping into minutes and the minutes into an hour. She started to feel herself weaken. This was just too much for her. The captain was faltering as well. She needed to end this now. The voice responded with a strategy that would surprise the captain and finish the match in her favor. He had become habitual in his fatigue. He would step in and whirl his blades much like Emma did to the lieutenant to win that match. On his next pass the voice was running at full tilt, “Drop back and spin around and show him your back.” Emma did as she was told. This was done to let the captain think that Emma had finally made a serious mistake. Sure enough he pressed this apparent advantage. “Now flip the kardaz in your right hand to your tail and finish with a slice to his legs,” the voice continued. “Right,” Emma thought, “flip the kardaz to my tail and slice him across the legs. Wait a minute, I don’t have a tail!” It was too late, she had already let go of her kardaz and she threw it in such a way that, if she would have had a tail, she would have easily caught it. As it turned out the kardaz went sailing across the room and lodged itself into the wall. It took the captain less than a second to slice Emma across her back. She felt it drag across her flesh and it burned.

“Winner!” exclaimed the captain before he collapsed onto the floor. Emma was already there unable to move from exhaustion. She felt someone apply something to her back right away and it immediately stopped the burning. After a few more minutes the pain was completely gone. She also felt something hot and clammy being brushed onto her face. They just kept brushing and brushing her face and it smelled like meat. She slowly opened her eyes and found to her relief that it was Shnooby vigorously licking her face. He did not stop his ministrations until Emma got up to her knees. She felt Tobok holding her up and could hear him yelling about not cleaning up the blood. She was still woozy when she clearly heard him say, “I am confiscating all of the materials that have her blood on them.” She felt some of her strength returning when Tobok asked her, “How are you doing? Can you sit up?” She nodded and he helped her over to a chair next to the weapons table. She had recovered enough to be able to look around the room. She saw the captain being helped up as well. He, though, was able to stand and he slowly made his way to the other side of the room. There was blood on the floor and a group of rangers had formed a circle around it so that no one would be able to collect it. She then saw Tobok rushing back with something in his hand and running next to him was Onalen.

“Hey are you OK?” Onalen asked, concerned etched across her face.

“Here drink this. It will help you get your strength back,” Tobok said as he pushed a goblet into her hand. She took a deep drink. It felt cool going down her throat. In a few minutes she felt warmth start from her stomach and spread down her arms and legs. She felt better, much better. After a few more minutes she was able to speak.

“Wow, how long did we fight?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Tobok told me you were at it for about an hour! I got here late and you were already fighting the captain. You were amazing! I have never seen anyone move the way you did!” Onalen told her breathlessly.

Tobok, on the other hand, was staring intently at her. “What’s wrong?” she asked him.

He paused as if collecting his thoughts. “You fought and defeated a lieutenant of the rangers and then almost immediately you started to fight the captain as well. They are some of the most accomplished fighters of the Vanguard. The captain is easily one of the top fighters with the kardaz and yet you held your own against him for over an hour and it looked like you would best him before you made that mistake at the end. All of this and you had never even picked up a kardaz before. All you did was watch them practice for a short while. I have never seen such a thing. I guess you were due to exhibit a new ability but no matter how much I try to prepare for it you never cease to amaze me.”

“Why did you throw the kardaz behind you like that at the end? You could have won!” asked Onalen.

Emma didn’t want to tell them that she had heard the voice in her head again nor that it had been directing her. She wanted to think about that one herself for a while. She needed to find out who or what that voice was. She had a clue now, the voice had a tail.

“I guess that I was just tired,” she replied slowly.

“How did you feel when the captain was trying to get you to fight?” Tobok asked unexpectedly.

“Uh, I guess it made me angry,” replied Emma, not sure of where he was going with this.

“That is what I thought,” he said distractedly.

“What?” she asked him.

“Well, it seems that whenever you manifest a new ability you are in a heightened emotional state.”

Emma was still confused.

“It means that every time you came up with a new ability you were angry,” Onalen intervened. “Remind me never to make you mad, OK?”

“I must tell the twins about this. First, though, you need some rest. Come I will take you back to our quarters. Can you walk?”

“I think so. I feel much better now.”

“Before we go, let me collect everything that has your blood on it. This will only take a short while.”

While Tobok was off cleaning up her blood and collecting the stained kardaz and bit of armor she was wearing, Onalen sat down next to her to keep her company.

“How does it feel when, you know, you start doing that amazing stuff?” she asked her timidly.

“Well, it starts off usually as a tingling sensation and then it just feels normal to do it. I can’t explain it much better than that. It scares you a little bit doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, kind of, but I know no matter what that you would never hurt me.”

“Thanks for not abandoning me. I never told you how much I appreciate your friendship,” she answered with tears in her eyes.

“What are best friends for?” she said with a smile on her face. Onalen then bent over and gave Emma a hug. She returned it in kind and they hugged there for a long time.

Tobok returned with a bag full of all of the items that had Emma’s blood.

“Come, let us get you into bed.”

Tobok and Onalen helped her up. Just before they reached the doors, a ranger stopped them with a message for Tobok.

“I have to go see the twins immediately. It seems that they have already heard of your fight. Onalen, could you help her back to our quarters? I will be there momentarily.”

“Sure, it will be my pleasure!”

Tobok then turned to Emma, “I will be right back, OK?”

Emma nodded, “I’ll be fine, I’ll have my best friend with me. Go on!”

Tobok reluctantly turned and left for his meeting.

Onalen helped Emma walk to the door. Shnooby was right by her side offering his support as well. At the door she saw Herzon waiting for her. His two sons were also there.

“A most impressive display, most impressive!” he said bowing deeply.

“Uh thanks, I guess,” she replied weakly.

“There is much more to you than even I thought!”

“I am just a girl from Earth, not much more than that.”

“And humble as well! Just by that alone you would make a terrible Hunzack. That is not necessarily a bad thing, though,” he said with a smile. “Take care Emma of Earth, we will speak again.”  Before he turned to leave she glanced at his sons. Henior had an expression on his face that made Emma shiver. He is definitely not warming to her like his father is. Hennock, on the other hand, still had that grin on his face only now it was bigger.

They walked past them and out into the corridor. Emma was leaning on Onalen and she was having a tough time supporting her. She was still exhausted from the fight. It shouldn’t surprise her, doing what she had done. She felt right now like she could sleep for a week.

They made it to Emma’s level and had just turned into the final corridor when Emma heard a faint whine. It was at that point that she sensed someone in front of them.

She felt rather than saw the first blast zip past her low on her right side. She heard a yelp and turned to see Shnooby sailing back into the wall. She had just enough time to turn back when the second blast hit Onalen full in the chest. She too sailed back into the wall. Emma now saw who it was that attacked them. There he stood, the lieutenant that she fought almost two hours ago. The only thought that Emma had time for before the third and final blast found its mark on her chest was, “This guy really doesn’t like to lose!”