Chapter 16 - The War Begins
Tymos sent Morov to get formal clothes for himself and his twin to wear when they addressed the Elders. Kryslie had Delia help her to wash the dye from her hair and remove the make-up.
When they were ready, Tymoros had Aldiv transmit them all to the meeting, which was to be in the Conference Room.
Some of those who had come to hear of their travels had since departed back to their cities, but most of the Elders had remained, adding their time and experience to those bringing together a plan for the survival of Aeronites who had no way to leave their doomed planet.
Governor Xyron arrived after them, but Governor Reslic was already seated at the table. Kryslie went to speak to him, and report on Stenn.
“Thank you,” he said, sincerely, as father more than as President Governor.
She gave him the expected bow as she withdrew to rejoin her brother and father at their seats at the head of the table.
Timenon, stood and invited, “Tell us of the words of the Guardians.”
Tymos began, slowly, for the visions had been rapid, and he still had to form them into a coherent picture. He stood and looked down until he was ready to speak. He began by revealing that he had seen the Ciriot, as if they were hiding and waiting – and told the Elders what he had earlier told his father. He had the complete attention of every person in the room when he said – “this is the enemy that we must fight.”
“We cannot wait for them to defeat us, or weaken us,” Tymos added, speaking with the authority of the wisdom the Guardians had granted him. “We must force this war to start when we are ready, and where we want it. We must help the Aeronites to realise that this war is misguided.”
“But not yet,” Kryslie warned. “There are still things we must do. You have plans to bring people out of the outlying villages and towns and take them to the cities. That should begin at once, unobtrusively. Bring what you can of the herds of cattle and sheep there too, and what there is no room for can be butchered and the meat frozen. For a time, the farmers that are growing grain and other food crops should remain.”
Xyron leant forward. “It is not yet even half way through the growing season…”
“I know, but Tym and I know what we must do…and it is something that only we can do. You have often wondered why our friends Keleb and Jonko came to have power. Now that is clear. With Jonko’s gift with plants, I will help speed up the harvest…”
“And with Keleb’s empathic gift, his ability to attract animals, he and I will draw as many animals as we can to those shielded forests,” Tymos summarised. “We will leave within the day to begin, for we will need every moment we can contrive.”
Timenon accepted their words with, “And when the time is right for the war to begin, we are simply to let our enemies know where you are?”
Tymoros interrupted. “Not where they are, but where we want the war to begin.”
“And how will we let our enemies know that place?”
Kryslie looked down at her hands, and then faced the assembled elders. “Tymos and I did what we could to help Zacary, but I cannot be sure I found every string placed on his mind. We do not have the time to help him further. We did remove the compulsion he was under to report to Kellex the moment he knew we were back and forced him to forget he saw us. So, keeping him in isolation for a time, weaning him from his addiction to the sweets and off that drug Kellex used and teaching him to shield his mind – will give us time for what we must do. However, I fear that as soon as Zacary is allowed to roam free once more – Kellex will regain control and will be more wary than before. Have him watched. If Kellex does regain control, you will probably notice odd behaviour again. You might be able to use him to give Kellex disinformation.”
When Tymos and Kryslie had revealed all they knew, the Elders left in ones and twos until only the Governor’s remained.
Reslic met their gaze and spoke quietly. “You have passed beyond what we can teach you, and we know that you have been sent by the Guardians to do their work. They will guide you from here on. Do not forget that you may call on others to help you whenever you have need. Keep in touch, for it may be that we need to recall you.”
“Sir, we will,” Kryslie promised.
“Give Aldiv a list of what you need,” Tymoros told his heirs. “And what your friends will need. Come and see me before you go.”
Tymos and Kryslie bowed together, accepting the dismissal. They went to Tymos’s apartment and sent Morov to summon their friends.
Even though they greeted each other with less formality than was possible earlier, Jonko and Keleb both sensed that the meeting was not purely social.
“You were able to help Stenn, weren’t you,” Jonko asked, since the matter was on his mind.
“Yes,” Kryslie assured him. “He will be fine. We were not able to help Zacary as much. To fully sort him out will require time we do not have to spare. The best we can do is to keep Kellex too busy to think at him.”
“Ah huh,” Jonko acknowledged. After a moment of thought, he added, “You are not going to be poking sticks at that critter are you?”
“Not directly,” Tymos assured him. “He will be busy looking for us where we are not. While we are getting you and Kel to help us with a vital task.”
“Us? Will they let us go with you?” Keleb exclaimed.
Tymos smiled wryly. “We told the Governors that we needed you.”
Jonko allowed his face to betray surprise. “You…told them? And you are here unscathed?”
“Not only that, they graduated us out of classes,” Kryslie told him. “Both of you are past level delta, and older than we are…and you are not likely to become Elders.”
“Get to the point…what do you need us to do?” Jonko insisted. Keleb nodded his head in emphasis.
“Sit and we will explain,” Kryslie insisted, and set an example by perching on the end of her brother’s study desk. Jonko and Keleb usurped the two chairs, leaving Tymos to sit beside his sister.
“What we need is to make use of your gifts, in tandem with our own,” Tymos began. “The Guardians of Peace have shown us some of what is to come. The aliens have planned their conquest and they are almost ready to act. Kellex believes we are destined to prevent those plans from succeeding, hence his desperation to have us. If he can’t have us neutralised, the next best idea is to know where we are before they start anything.”
“So they can kill you?” Keleb suggested.
“Or be somewhere else,” Kryslie countered. “Either way we need to keep them guessing.”
“However, we doubt that they will want to wait much longer to attack,” Tymos warned.
Jonko nodded. “And our part in this?” His eyes gleamed with anticipation. “I am tired of doing nothing. Give me a reason and someone to fight.”
“This fight won’t be with weapons,” Tymos warned him. “Tymoreans are not going to make the first warlike move.”
“You motioned our gifts,” Keleb prompted.
“Yes…” Kryslie confirmed. “One of the things that the aliens have been doing is play with the ecology of our world. So far, they have done it in remote locations, but they have begun to grow their food plants. If they intend to bring huge numbers of their population here, they will have to expand the areas they have changed.”
Jonko was immediately interested. “That would take years – wouldn’t it?”
Kryslie shook her head. “Not necessarily. I don’t expect that you know much of ancient Tymorean history, but far, far back in time, a group of Tymoreans chose to leave here and start their own colony. They took with them a terrain-reforming machine and turned an otherwise barren planet into a viable one. However, subtle traces of different elements existed in this reformed world, and since that time, the descendents of those Tymoreans changed subtly. They are Aeronites, the aliens that we are resisting now. They need to add these trace elements to our soil, so the plants they grow will sustain them when they colonise our world.”
“That would ruin our ecology,” Jonko said, aghast.
Tymos’s face was grim. “If they begin to use their terrain reforming machines, the effect will be far reaching and have a profound effect on every person, animal and plant on this world. They can use weapons to destroy vast areas of vegetation and then the ground will be ready to be changed as they wish it.”
He did not differentiate between enemies – it mattered not to the job in hand. He knew too, that no mention should be made of the Ciriot in any discussion outside of the Conclave of Elders, lest that enemy be warned of their foreknowledge.
“We can’t let them do that!” Keleb exclaimed. “Their plants won’t suit us, will they? And the animals might not be able to eat them.”
“Exactly, that is why the Governors have seen to it that all the cities and vast areas of forests will be protected. But that won’t be enough,” Tymos told his friends.
“The animals,” Keleb saw at once.
Tymos nodded. “As things are now, the people in the smaller villages and towns are gradually making their way to the cities. Some will go on foot, driving herd animals just like they do when they want to sell them. Others are going by long range beam.”
“What will they be doing for food?” Jonko asked. “The harvests are barely growing.”
“Yes – and that is where you come in Jon,” Tymos told him. “Only the farmers and crop growers are staying – for now. We believe, that with your instinctive understanding of growing things, and all the stuff Tobias has been sharing with you, and our planet sense, we can control the cycle of plants. In other words, we speed up the harvest and then stop the cycle – put the plants into a kind of hibernation. There is power in the core of this planet and we will draw on this power and use it to protect the crops and the forest seeds for the time when re-vegetation will occur. In protecting the forests we will also be protecting the animals drawn into those places.”
“So I am to speed up the cycle of the harvests,” Jonko pondered. “The people will have a supply of grain to last while they must stay within the cities. I must then stop the plants growing, to preserve untainted plants safe in the ground but that will give the alien weeds free room to grow. Isn’t that what the aliens want – to be able to grow their weeds?”
“Think, Jon!” Kryslie urged. “Think on the source of our power!”
“The Guardians,” Jonko said reverently.
“Yes, but remember our Sacred Trust!” Kryslie continued. “The First Fundamental Law - ‘When there is peace on Tymorea there is peace in the Universe’. Our power is steeped into the core of this planet, in the plants, animals, the people and the very soil. There have been generations and generations of power directed towards peace and harmony. The land will look after its own. You’ll see Jon, when the seeds are dormant the weeds won’t have competition but they won’t survive. The aliens will think they have won, but their plants won’t mature or reproduce.”
Jonko accepted that, but was still thoughtful, trying to imagine how he would do it.
Keleb burst out saying, “You think I can help draw animals to the forests, but how?”
“Your empathy with animals, magnified by our planet sense,” Tymos stated. “We are sure that the Guardians had a hand in creating each of you too – for this very need – since each of you has a very rare gift.”
Keleb was still thinking on his role. “If I draw animals into forests protected by force fields, they will be safe from the effects of war. They will be the breeding stock. If they were not protected our people would have no game to hunt for food. How can we protect all the animals?”
“I don’t think we can help all the animals to reach the forests,” Tymos predicted, “But they won’t be easily caught by the aliens. The animals know what is natural to this world and will support those who fight to protect it, perhaps in strange ways.”
“And we are the only ones who can do this?” Jonko asked. “Surely you will be needed to lead troops of fighters when the war finally starts?”
“Us? Think about it. Governor Reslic is our Supreme War Leader and Admiral of the Tymorean Peace Fleet. Governor Xyron has the technology of thousands of years from thousands of planets to draw on. Our Father, Governor Tymoros, is a brilliant strategist and will direct our ground forces and he will have the talents of all our missionaries to call on. They are returning even as we speak! Our efforts in those directions would be superfluous, yet for all their power, they cannot fulfil this aspect of the defence. Your gifts, supplemented by what power we can draw from the planet itself will affect that final defence. It is what we must do.”
“When do we begin?” Keleb began to rise to the challenge.
“We will leave tonight!” Tymos told him. “You must prepare for a long journey, but we must not be hindered by too much to carry.” The others nodded.
“Keleb, you will travel with me and Jonko will go with Krys. It will be safer if we are not together and Kryslie and I must be careful to remain unrecognized.”
At a suggestion from Tymos, the four split up to prepare for their mission.
Tymos felt the power in the Tymorean soil, power that came from the very core of the planet. He felt this great power flowing through him and submitting to his control as he channelled it to Keleb, supporting his empathic gift. They were deep in a forested mountain region, protected by some of Governor Xyron’s devices. Keleb was in a trance, oblivious to his surroundings; his entire concentration directed to distant animal minds, subtly calling them to this protected place.
Tymos kept part of his mind attuned to Keleb and felt the touch of hundreds of animals as they responded to Keleb’s mind call. Even while directing energy to Keleb, Tymos’s mind touched on many ideas as he explored the power he handled. Half a world away on a different continent, he could sense his sister and Jonko also drawing on the power of the planet’s core. With barely any effort, he could think at Kryslie and she would sense his thought. It seemed like a vast telepathic network that covered the whole world. On a different level, that where Keleb was working he could sense there was something upsetting the natural balance of the planet – the animals sensed it and it was driving them in terror.
With the speed of lightning, Tymos’s mind sought the thoughts of terror, channelled through Keleb’s gift. As his friend continued to draw the animals with thoughts of peace, Tymos overcame the disorientation of seeing through multiple sets of eyes. He shared what the animals felt and saw – vivid flashes of light, the ground shaking, soil and debris falling from the sky, pain and death. Tymos withdrew his mind.
“Keleb?” Tymos sent a tentative thought to his friend. Moments later Keleb came out of his trance.
“What is happening, Tymos? I felt you in my mind.”
“The war has begun!” Tymos said bluntly. Without volition, he turned to face the direction where, many miles away, aliens were bombing a town. It was as if he did not see the tall trees around him. Then he sensed an unspoken question in Keleb’s mind and answered it.
“Not yet Kel, I cannot act yet. Our job here is not finished.” He did not try to explain, the real enemies had yet to show their faces.
There was a steady stream of animals arriving in the forest; they were hopping past the feet of both Tymos and Keleb, unafraid of the humans who seemed to them a natural part of the forest. The animals sought the protected place and their instinct for peace was reinforced by Keleb’s call. The knowledge was passed from animal to animal and the migration swelled. When the stream of animals ceased, the forest would be sealed completely. Then they would move on to another region, and start again.
Kryslie felt the outrage in the soil as the first bombs fell. The psychic aura of the planet was strong even though she was away from the main continent. The upheaval was perceptible even to Jonko and for a moment, his warrior’s instinct threatened to overcome him, but he controlled it. Kryslie touched him in a gentle restraining motion.
“You can do nothing, Jon. You cannot be every where to prevent every attack,” Kryslie said quietly. “The Governors will deal with the aliens. These are just the opening skirmishes, primitive weapons and brute force. We are not finished our task here. We cannot be involved yet.”
There was a certain emphasis on the last statement. Jonko sensed the control Kryslie exercised and knew she was not unaffected by what she knew to be happening elsewhere.
Without prompting, Jonko relaxed back into the trance like state he needed to undertake his task. Confident that Kryslie would watch for danger, he concentrated fully on the delicate task of manipulating the life cycle of the plants. He knew the plant cycle on an intimate level now and had become proficient at affecting each stage, taking power that Kryslie drew from the planets core and directing it to all the plants in an ever-widening circle about him. In this area were fields of barley and rye, closer to the town were orchards of apples and pears.
In previous weeks, in many, many different areas, Jonko had hastened the maturing of the late sun-season crops. As soon as they were mature, the farmers harvested the fruit, vegetables and grains and them and sent them to storage silos and cool rooms in the cities. Jonko returned then to place the fallow and unproductive fields into a kind of stasis. The remaining un-harvested plants finished flowering and went to seed. The seeds fell onto the ground and would now lie dormant and protected from mutation until stimulated in a time of peace. Only in the areas protected by force fields would the plants cycle normally or perhaps faster than normal. In these areas, the animals would survive and if the storehouses got low, the Tymorean people could harvest the plants to feed themselves.
Thus, in town after town the farmers finished the harvest and returned to their homes. Unknown to the alien spies that watched the farmers returning, the houses were already empty of women, children and belongings. When darkness fell, the men walked along familiar laneways to one of several designated houses. Then the townsmen went from there to the cities by long-range beam.
Alien spies, long since identified, were quietly apprehended by Tymorean Peace Corpsmen, searched for weapons and communicators, and in a similar fashion taken to the smallest continent where a restraining area had been prepared. Here they would be left alone, and would need to hunt and forage for their food.
Therefore, when the alien attackers turned their attention from the well-protected cities to the smaller towns, the towns were deserted. Alien agents found no people, no personal belongings, no food and no untainted liquids. The agents reported to their superiors in varying degrees of fear or anger. Fifty rural towns destroyed, but the defenders won the opening round. They had outguessed the attackers.
There were a few days of peace before the next attacks. Alien warriors with weapons ready, scouted more towns, finding these also were deserted. It was almost as if the people had left the planet. The aliens could walk right in and colonize the towns, but the people had gone somewhere and the leaders were still free to attack them. The Tymoreans were not defeated.