My Kingdom Come book 1: The Saints We See

661 standard years after the signing of the Alliance treaty

Hathu peered through the crack in the cafeteria doors. Just as he had suspected the men with guns were between him and the students with their back to the door. he stepped back and nodded at his two team members. They quickly pulled the cafeteria doors open. The men were shouting, students were crying. Hathu stepped through the doors and fired a plasma bolt up into cafeteria ceiling. “Drop your weapons!” He shouted.

The shoulders of the hostage takers tensed. Students screamed.

“Drop the weapons or I’ll shoot.”

Several of them glanced back. Hathu shot at the floor near the feet of the closest man who had looked back. A black scorch mark appeared on the floor by the man’s feet. “I said drop your weapons.”

“Do as he says.” One of the men said. The men carefully laid their weapons down on the floor.

“Put your hands on your head and move slowly to the right. I want you to stand up against the wall, facing the wall.”

The men slowly obeyed.

“Narish?” Hathu said, keeping his eyes trained on the men as they stood lined up facing the wall.

“Yes?” His voice coming from the other side of the cafeteria was a bit shaky.

“Come here.”

Hathu could hear him walking across the cafeteria and up to his side. “Are you alright?” Hathu chanced a glance in Narish’s direction. He was pale.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was afraid you weren’t going to show up there, for a minute.”

“Sorry, I had to explain to everyone else what was happening. What did these madmen want? What were they asking you to do?”

Narish swallowed harshly. “Everyone old enough to be in the game is being sorted into two groups either hunters or prey. They said they were going to send the ones too young to play the game home. Then we were all going down to the game field to play hunter and prey for real. Whoever survived was going to get the chance to be part of what he called ‘a new better world’.”

“Fuck.” Hathu muttered under his breath. “How were you being sorted?”

“Some by choice, some were sorted according to a list they have.”

Hathu nodded. “Listen to me, blue team, these guys want to kill you and your brothers and sisters.” He glanced right and left along the line of blue team that were watching the hostage takers’ backs with him. “If any one of them so much as twitches, shoot them.”

There were nods and murmurs of “yes, Hathu,” all up and down the line.

Hathu stepped back and handed his rifle to Narish, then grabbed a couple recharge packs out of his pocket and handed those to him too. “In case you need them.”

“Thanks.” Narish shoved them in his pocket. His hands were shaking. “I still can’t believe this is happening. I’m sure glad you heard their plan.”

Hathu turned towards the rest of the cafeteria. “I don’t know everything, I just hope I know enough.”

* * *

Hathu and five members of blue team had just finished marching the hostage takers, along with the teachers and students who had wanted to go with them, off school property at rifle point when the first explosion went off.

It was a lot louder than Hathu had expected. Five more deep booms echoed through the air and vibrated through Hathu’s chest and the soles of his feet. He let out a breath. They had cut it close. He hadn’t wanted the explosives to go off before they had gotten the hostage takers off school property, but he also hadn’t wanted any of the families to be at the beach when they went off.

The hostage takers paused and threw their arms over their heads at the sound of the explosions, then took off running, their new proteges trailing after them.

Hathu and his team waited till they were lost in the maze of the town streets before walking back to the physical combat gymnasium.

Hathu had three of his team members stay outside on guard, in case any of his father’s men tried to come back and went inside to see how things were going. Students were sitting on the floor in groups or alone, some crying, some staring blankly at nothing. The few teachers who had come with them were walking from group to group talking quietly to the children.

Hathu frowned. He didn’t see Novina or any of her team members anywhere. He spotted Korish. He had been picked by the hostage takers to be in the prey group. “Korish!” Hathu called. Korish looked up from where he was talking to a young boy. Hathu gestured for him to come over.

Korish bent down to the boy again for a moment and then made his way over to Hathu.

“I’m very impressed and grateful for what you pulled of today Hathu. I can’t believe that-”

“Shut up. Come outside, we need to have a little talk.” Hathu gestured with the barrel of his rifle.

Surprise flashed across Korish’s face. “Hathu, what-”

Hathu stepped back and raised the barrel of his rifle. “Outside.”

Korish frowned, but he turned and went outside.

“Is everything okay, Hathu?” Asked one of the sentries.

“Everything is fine, I just need to clear a few things up.” Hathu answered.

He had Korish walk around the corner of the main school building on the town side. “Turn around.”

Korish turned around. His eyes searched Hathu’s face. “Hathu, I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”

“Why were you picked for the prey group? Why did you stay behind with us?”

Korish frowned. “I’ve always been very vocal about my dislike for your father. I suppose he wanted to get rid of me. And of course I stayed. It’s my duty to be sure my students are safe.”

Hathu pointed at the still healing bruises on his face. “My father did this after someone told him what happened the day I held my first training with blue team. Are you going to tell me that wasn’t you?”

Korish paled. “It wasn’t me, Hathu.”

Hathu snorted.

“Maybe it was one of your team members.”

Hathu stared at Korish for a long moment. “You have a wife in town, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Go home. Don’t come back here, Korish.”

“Hathu-”

“Leave.” Hathu raised his rifle.

Korish bowed his head then looked back up at Hathu. “I’ll leave, but I swear I did not betray you Hathu. It was someone else.”

Hathu didn’t say anything.

Korish sighed. He turned and began walking away. Hathu stood and waited, watching to be sure he didn’t come back. As he watched he saw something moving towards him down a another street. He kept watching and as they grew closer saw it was Novina and her team. Hathu let out a breath of relief. They were coming from the wrong angle, but they were all there. He glanced over to where he had been keeping half an eye on Korish. He disappeared around the corner of the street he had been walking down. Hathu waited half a minute more then went out to meet Novina.

“What happened?” He called out when he was close.

“Keep going, get inside the physical combat gymnasium,” she said to her team slowing down. Her team passed her and ran for the building, they looked exhausted.

“What happened?” Hathu repeated.

Novina grabbed his elbow and pulled him around the corner of the main school building so that it was between them and the town. “The run out there was fine. We made it. The guard at the gate was dead, it was disgusting. We were able to get inside the gate house without any probelm. I hit the button, the army called. I gave them your message. The guy who called seemed very on edge, but he said they will be on their way as soon as possible.

“It was on our way back that something happened. Hathu, they are shooting sentients in town.”

“What?!” Hathu stared at her in shock. “Did they see you, were any of you hurt?”

“No, we’re all fine. I just heard something around the corner and we peeked. There were like three guys in prisoner jumpsuits, they knocked on the door and Janish, you know the grocer, he opened the door and they asked him if he had decided. I couldn’t hear what he said, but guess they didn’t like it because they dragged him out of his house and shot him and then they went in and I heard his wife yelling. They dragged her out and shot-” Novina bit her upper lip. Tears welled up in her eyes and she swallowed. “I brought the team back by a different route.”

Hathu reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “You did fantastic, Novina. Thank you. Let’s get inside and figure out what to do next.”

* * *

(Two months later)

Hathu dropped the bloody sack in the snow next to Lateth where she was lighting the morning fire. “Breakfast.” He said.

She looked up at him. “Hathu, you aren’t supposed to go out hunting alone anymore!”

“Who said I went alone?”

She stood up, put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “Who went with you?”

Hathu grinned sheepishly. “Okay, I went alone.”

She shook her head. “You wont let anyone else go out alone, and you’re the one they’re really looking for. We need you Hathu. Please.”

Hathu sighed and smiled. “Thank you Lateth.” He turned and went into the physical combat gymnasium. It was lined with rows of sleeping pads. Most of them still held snoring occupants. He made his way quietly to the boys locker room, turned on one of the showers, hung his rifle within reach, stripped out of his sweaty clothes and stepped under the hot spray.

He let out a breath. His shoulders relaxed. He had needed to get out and blow off some steam. He’d gotten close to having another episode like the one he’d had when Gemma had been there to help him. This was the second time since his father had staged the prison break. The first time he had also gone out on a hunt to let out his built up stress. He had run into his sister Nivan. She’d tried to kill him. His father had sent several of his followers out with instructions to hunt Hathu down and kill him. So far they had been unsuccessful.

Hathu was lathering shampoo into his hair when someone ran into the bathroom. He grabbed for his rifle. “Hathu!”

He relaxed as he recognized Novina’s voice. He turned towards her. “Uh, I’m um..”

“They’re building rafts again. This time they’re building them in the prison yard.”

Hathu let out a sigh. “Right. I’ll be right out.”