Phoenix

by S. F. Said

  They entered the space terminal. It was a huge white building, its lofty architecture a monument to Human civilization and its conquest of the stars. Its walls flickered with massive starmaps, projecting out into the hall, showing flights to every Human world, in every system from Aries to Libra – all the way to the Spacewall.

  And through its observation windows, Lucky could see the starships glittering in their landing bays, so close now he could almost reach out and touch them. There were so many of them in the port. Their hulls were pitted from vast voyages across space. Heat haze shimmered around them, making the air look liquid with possibility.

  He gazed at them, spellbound. Was one of these ships really going to take him to the stars?

  ‘Let’s see,’ said his mother. ‘Where shall we go?’

  Lucky hardly needed to look at the starmaps. ‘How about Leo?’ he suggested. It was the most glamorous Human system, famous for exotic markets where, it was said, you could get anything your heart desired. The only drawback was the large minority of Aliens who lived there too, refugees who’d fled the War.

  His mother shook her head. ‘I don’t think so,’ she said. ‘How about the smaller moons of Aries? They’re barely populated, they’ll be perfect. Look, there’s a flight to Lethe! Let’s get it.’

  She led Lucky up to a grand ticketing desk, where an officer with a crewcut and a headset was taking bookings.

  ‘Welcome to Phoenix Spaceport,’ said the officer. ‘Your ident, please?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Lucky’s mother, as she handed over her identity card. Lucky didn’t have his own yet; he was just a name on hers.

  The officer scanned it, and nodded formally. ‘Everything seems to be in order, Mrs . . . Diana Ashbourne. What can we do for you?’

  ‘We want a flight to Lethe,’ she said. ‘That one.’ She pointed at the starmaps – and then paused, puzzled. Because there, where the flight had been listed, was now the word CANCELLED.

  The officer frowned and adjusted his headset. ‘Just a moment. There’s an announcement coming . . .’

  He looked up at the giant vidscreens on the wall. They were showing images of destruction. Burning buildings. Bodies on stretchers. People with hopeless, empty eyes. These images were being beamed from a Human world. A familiar one at that.

  ‘News coming through of a Dark Matter bomb attack on Aries One!’ boomed a voice from the vidscreens. ‘Stand by for a message from the President!’

  There was an audible gasp around the terminal building. Aries One? The biggest world in this part of the galaxy had been bombed?

  With a sense of dread, Lucky looked out of the observation windows. He was relieved to see the great red planet still there in the sky, though he thought it looked wounded, somehow. The clouds around it seemed the colour of blood now.

  The vidscreens filled with an image of President Thorntree, leader of the Human government: a kindly but stern-looking woman with steely blonde hair.

  ‘I’m sorry to confirm that the Aliens have struck again,’ said the President. ‘Aries One was a peaceful world, but nowhere is safe while they are at large. My government is suspending all space traffic in the Aries system as a security measure, effective immediately. If you see anything suspicious, report it at once to the Shadow Guards. With your help, we will defeat our enemies.’

  The vidscreens flashed up an enormous image: the Alien King, the most wanted being in the galaxy. Lucky recoiled instinctively, and so did everyone around him. No matter how many times he saw Alien features, he couldn’t get used to them: the curving horns, the cloven hooves, the burning eyes of flame.

  He was glad he’d only seen them on the news, and not in real life. He’d never even seen a Shadow Guard; nothing like that ever happened in the suburbs of Phoenix. But if the Aliens had just bombed Aries One, they must be close.

  Was this what his mother was running away from? Were the Aliens coming to get them?

  He could feel the fear rising up inside him. It was spreading through the terminal. All around him, people were staring in horror at the vidscreens, shaking their heads at the images coming through. Some of them were crying; others were talking frantically on their comms, trying to contact families and friends.

  The starmaps were all changing now, the word CANCELLED coming up on every flight, to every destination.

  ‘Surely they can’t just cancel all the flights?’ protested Lucky’s mother. ‘We have to travel as soon as possible. It’s an emergency.’

  ‘I’m sorry, madam,’ said the officer. ‘You’d better go home, for your own safety. It could be hours, days, weeks—’

  She leaned in closer to his desk. ‘What about unlisted flights?’ she said, more quietly. ‘I know there are always some freelance pilots in a spaceport. Could you help us charter one of those?’

  The officer looked horrified. ‘No pilot would dare take off now! The Shadow Guards would stop them if they tried.’ He shook his head sternly. ‘Why would you want to leave Phoenix, anyway? At least there aren’t many space devils here. Only the ones in this port, and most of them are penned up in that camp . . .’

  Lucky bit his lip. He was afraid: afraid of the Aliens, but even more afraid of the fact that his mother still seemed so desperate to get away, despite all the obstacles. What could be a bigger emergency than a Dark Matter bomb?

  Whatever the answer, it looked like they weren’t going to the stars after all. He’d been excited, gazing at the ships, but now it wasn’t going to happen.

  His scalp tingled. He had the strangest feeling. The astrolabe in his kitbag: he had the distinct sensation that it was calling him.

  He glanced at his mother. She was still arguing with the officer.

  Lucky couldn’t stop himself. He couldn’t resist. He turned away from the desk, unzipped the bag a fraction, and peered inside.

  His whole body was tingling now, because the black metal disc was gleaming with silvery light. The twelve symbols around its circumference shimmered, shining like starlight in the black.

  It looked like a portal, an entryway to distant lands. The silver light within it seemed to come from somewhere far, far away. It was beautiful: so beautiful, he found he was holding his breath. Time stood still before it.

  Lucky stopped being conscious of the crowds, the vidscreens, the terminal building. All he was aware of was the mysterious object in his kitbag. He reached down to touch the cool black metal. There was such a sense of power thrumming there, just waiting to be activated, if only he knew how to work it . . .

  He ran a fingertip around its circumference, touching each of those twelve symbols in turn. Not one of them did a thing. He tried to move the dials, but they were firmly fixed in place. He searched for a lock or a clasp that might open it up, but nothing he did could make it budge. It just sat there, silently shimmering at him.

  He must have lost track of time, because he was suddenly aware that the officer was shouting at him. Abruptly, the silver glow vanished. The black metal disc looked lifeless and dark again.

  ‘. . . hell!’ the big man was yelling, his eyes goggling as he stared over Lucky’s shoulder into the kitbag. ‘Is that what I think it is?’ Lucky’s mother was frantically shaking her head on the other side.

  ‘Uh . . .’ Lucky’s cheeks burned. Fumbling, he closed the bag, catching his finger in the zip as he shut it. ‘It’s – er – nothing,’ he said feebly.

  ‘That was an astrolabe!’ said the officer. ‘What’s a boy like you doing with an astrolabe? You know they’re illegal!’

  ‘Illegal?’ gulped Lucky.

  ‘Of course it wasn’t an astrolabe,’ his mother cut in, taking charge. ‘How could it be? When was the last time you saw one of those?’

  The officer’s eyes were narrow. ‘Not since the War began – but I’d recognize one anywhere. You never forget a thing like that.’ He moved to grab Lucky’s bag.

  ‘Are you calling me a liar?’ Lucky’s mother said. She threw her arms up in a great show of indignation
. ‘How dare you! I’m not standing for this!’ She marched away from the ticketing desk, dragging Lucky behind her towards the exit.

  ‘Stop!’ said the officer. ‘Stop right there!’ He bounded after them and seized Lucky’s arm. Lucky tried to wriggle away, but the man was far too strong. He yanked him back, so hard it hurt.

  ‘Oww!’ cried Lucky, falling backwards, losing his balance, feet crumpling beneath him –

  – but he never hit the floor. His mother caught him first. She swerved round, and put herself between him and the officer.

  ‘Let the boy go,’ she said, in an icy low voice Lucky had never heard her use before.

  She twisted the big man’s wrist, just a little, and he released Lucky at once. He backed away, clutching his hand, mouth wide open in shock.

  Lucky stared at his mother. How did she do that? He was twice her size!

  But the officer’s surprise was already turning to fury. ‘I’m going to report you to the Shadow Guards!’ he raged. ‘What do you think you’re doing, running around with astrolabes, assaulting people? Who the hell are you, anyway?’

  Lucky’s mother didn’t say another word. She strode away in silence, dragging Lucky behind her, out of the terminal building and back into the streets.

  It was chaos out there. There were streams of people who’d been turned away from their flights. Crowds looking up at vidscreens, waiting for more news, or staring at the great red planet in the sky. On the corner of the street, a man in a crumpled suit was shouting into a megaphone.

  ‘The End Times are here!’ he proclaimed, as Lucky and his mother rushed past him. ‘The End of All Worlds! The Devil himself walks among us!’

  ‘I – I’m sorry,’ said Lucky, as he followed his mother through milling crowds. ‘I’m sorry about the astrolabe—’

  ‘I told you to keep that thing hidden,’ she said.

  ‘You never told me it was illegal,’ he protested. ‘Why’s it illegal? What does it do?’

  She glanced up at the sky. ‘We have to get off Phoenix before they find us,’ was all she said.

  ‘The Aliens?’ said Lucky. ‘Won’t the Shadow Guards protect us from them?’

  She didn’t reply; she just picked up her pace. Lucky shivered. The temperature was dropping rapidly in the spaceport. Night was falling. The sky blackened and the stars came out. Aries One rose higher, like a great red wound in the sky.

  Lucky’s mother led him into shadowy parts of the port where there were few people and no vidcams. Here, she found a small landing bay that housed a rusty cargo ship, with a couple of old starsailors beside it.

  ‘They might take us, if I make it worth their while,’ she said. ‘Wait here while I try.’ She approached the men and talked to them quietly – so quietly Lucky couldn’t hear what she said. One of them didn’t respond. He didn’t even seem to be aware she was there; he just stared straight ahead with empty eyes. But the other starsailor’s reply was all too clear.

  ‘No way, lady! Haven’t you heard the news? We ain’t messing with the Shadow Guards, and neither should you!’

  She hurried away from them, leading Lucky deeper into the back streets. They went from landing bay to landing bay, ship to ship through thickening shadows, trying every craft they could find. But it was the same everywhere. No one would give them a ride.

  As he waited for his mother by the last of the landing bays, Lucky bit his lip, fighting down the feeling that this was all his fault. All this because of a burned bedsheet. But why?

  ssssshh

  A soft hissing sound. Behind him, above him. It set his teeth on edge.

  He turned round, looked up – and nearly bit his tongue off.

  Because the crack in the sky was back.

  It was bigger. Much bigger. It covered a whole quadrant of the sky now. It was shaped like a great black V: a sharp-edged shadow where the night’s darkness looked even darker, somehow. Thicker. And all the way through it, he couldn’t see a single star.

  The stars had disappeared.

  Lucky wanted to say something, to warn his mother or cry out, but he couldn’t. His mouth had gone dry. His throat constricted. Looking at the thickening shadow, he couldn’t even breathe . . .

  ‘No luck,’ said his mother, returning from the landing bay. ‘I don’t think there are any more ships—’

  ‘What is that thing?’ he managed to whisper, digging his nails into the palms of his hands.

  ‘What thing?’

  He pointed behind her. ‘There – in the sky . . .’

  ssssshh

  The V was growing bigger. Bigger and bigger.

  His mother breathed in sharply, then took his hand. ‘Quick now, Lucky,’ she said, already beginning to move. ‘Run.’

  Chapter Four

  He ran. They ran. Together. Through the back streets of the spaceport, they ran together. Round a corner, along an alleyway, and straight into a dead end.

  An electrified fence loomed up before them, ten feet tall, with floodlights at the top. A noisy crowd was gathered in front of it. There was no way round it.

  They were trapped.

  ‘Join that crowd,’ urged Lucky’s mother. ‘Safety in numbers: it’s our only chance.’ She pushed him ahead of her into the press of bodies.

  ssssshh

  The hissing was almost directly above their heads, yet it was still so soft and quiet, Lucky couldn’t even be certain it was there. He glanced up. The V-shaped shadow was so big now, it blotted out half the sky.

  ‘Don’t look up!’ whispered his mother. ‘Keep your head down, and we might just get away with this.’

  It was so hard; every muscle in his body screamed at him to look at the great V in the night sky, to see what it really was. But he forced himself to look down. He shut his eyes, pulse pounding in his throat as he held his breath – one thousand, two thousand – until the hissing faded away at last, and her grip on his hand relaxed.

  ‘They’re gone,’ she whispered. ‘But that was way too close. We’re in trouble, Lucky. We need a flight off this world, and I don’t know how . . .’

  She shut her eyes, deep in thought. He risked another quick glance up, and was shocked to see the stars all back in their familiar places. The sky looked totally normal and clear again. No V. No hissing. Like nothing had ever happened.

  Did I imagine it? he wondered. Am I losing my mind?

  The people around him seemed unaware of the shadow that had just passed over them. They were focused instead on something at the front of the crowd, by the fence. Whatever it was, this thing held their full attention.

  Puzzled, Lucky edged round the side to get a better view.

  In the harsh glare of the floodlights, a fight was taking place. Several men were piling in, kicking at something on the ground, then backing away rapidly. Other men were slamming sticks down at this thing – hitting it, then backing away too. They were shouting, their faces red with anger.

  He edged a little closer to see what they were attacking.

  Then it roared and reared up on its hind legs, scattering the men –

  – and Lucky saw horns, great curving horns, pointing up at the sky –

  – and his stomach turned to liquid. His blood ran cold.

  Because it was an Alien. The first he’d ever seen in real life.

  It was a young male, and he was big. He was way bigger than Lucky. He was as big as the biggest man in the crowd. He was muscular, too: a solid wall of muscle, hulking and roaring under the lights, like a nightmare come to life.

  He was dressed in a strange coat that looked like it was made of liquid metal, billowing behind him like wings. His flaming eyes were covered by mirrorshades, but Lucky could see cloven hooves protruding from the bottom of his coat: massive black hooves that could crush a Human head.

  But there was only one of him, while there were half a dozen men ranged against him. They piled in again, all at once this time, and forced the Alien down by sheer weight of numbers. The crowd howled their approval:
‘Get him! Get him!’

  Lucky found himself howling along with them. ‘Get them all!’ he yelled, his fears boiling up inside him.

  ‘Lucky!’ warned his mother. She was shaking her head. She looked appalled.

  The men were pinning the Alien down beneath the electrified fence. He was struggling and roaring mightily. It took four of them to hold him there, one on each limb. A fifth was hitting him in the face, again and again. He pummelled the Alien, bloodying his nose. He ripped off the Alien’s mirrorshades, revealing eyes of blue fire behind them.

  ‘Call the Shadow Guards!’ screamed someone in the crowd.

  ‘No!’ said the man who was hitting the Alien. ‘I’ve got a better idea.’ From his belt, he pulled a hand cannon. He thrust it against the Alien’s head, where the horns met the skull.

  ‘Yes! Yes! Finish him!’ the crowd yelled, as the men held the huge Alien helpless there on the ground.

  Lucky’s mother took a deep breath. ‘I’ve got a plan,’ she whispered. ‘You wait here. Don’t watch. This might get ugly.’

  Before Lucky could answer, she was moving through the crowd. She moved in the most mesmerizing way. The people were packed in tight, but somehow she managed to twist and turn through them, and they just seemed to flow right off her. Yet she herself flowed, like a fish through water, or like water itself; like a tidal wave, gathering speed and momentum as she went.

  She made it to the front of the crowd, where the men were holding the Alien down. No one stopped her. No one even touched her as she reached out and took the gun from the man – plucked it from his hand as if she was taking sweets from a child – and threw it away on the ground.

  ‘What the hell are you doing?’ yelled the man.

  Lucky was as stunned as anyone. Why was she helping an Alien? Why was she even getting involved?

  ‘Leave him alone,’ his mother calmly told the men. ‘What’s he done to you?’

  ‘Haven’t you heard? They just bombed Aries One! They’ll kill us all, unless we kill them first.’