by G J Ogden
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” said Ethan, unclasping the pouch that held his knife. Unlike Summer, he knew exactly what might be lurking in the gloom; he’d seen them before, closer-up than he ever wished to be again.
Traveling at night was always more dangerous than in daytime, as the darkness provided additional cover for the maddened creatures that still stalked the lands between the settlements. They were once men or women, the same as Ethan and Summer, but had succumbed over time to the sickness that rose up shortly after the Fall. At first the Maddening would steadily rob a person of their emotions and empathy and, if they lived long enough, it would end by corrupting their body and mind into something more akin to a beast. Ethan remembered the technical explanation that Maria had given them in the council chambers five years earlier; about how the Maddening was a result of the toxins that polluted the soil and atmosphere after the Fall. Diana Neviah had described it using a different term – the degradation – but however it happened, and whatever you chose to call it, the end result was the same. Summer was right; if there were any of these creatures in the forest, they needed to be ready for them.
“Are you sure this is the right place to cross through?” asked Summer, after taking a gulp from her waterskin.
“Yes, the forest is narrowest at this point,” Ethan replied. “If we keep up the same pace, we should pass through in a couple of hours, maybe a little more. I’ve crossed here a few times before.”
Despite his familiarity with the place, this was not Ethan’s favorite location in the vicinity of the settlement; he far preferred the wider open spaces and rolling hills. In contrast, the forest was a dark and claustrophobic maze that looked like it had been lifted directly from a nightmare. The woodland was ancient and most of the trees were barely clinging on to life, with branches that clawed at the sky like talons, grasping for prey. It was bad enough in daylight, but the darkness and silver moonlight amplified its foreboding features tenfold. Ethan had been required to come here on many occasions previously, because the forest was an important source of resources, and part of a ranger’s duties were to escort and protect foraging parties. These important groups collected wood and food, particularly mushrooms, berries and, if they were lucky, small animals – though capturing and killing these to eat was always a last resort, in the event that they had been unable to collect enough other food.
“I hate this place,” said Summer, idly. “It’s why I never came with you on those babysitting trips.”
“I had wondered about that,” said Ethan, after swallowing a gulp of water. “I thought you were just losing interest in me.”
Summer took another swig from the skin. “First of all, I’d have to actually find you interesting to begin with…”
“Ouch!” said Ethan.
“I don’t like to go too far from the settlement, if I can help it,” Summer continued. “This place… I don’t know, it feels like we’re at the edge of what’s ours, if you get my meaning? I guess I just like what I know.”
Ethan looked up at the moon, clear and bright in the night sky; he could make out shapes, perhaps surface features like mountains, distinguished by differences in tone and brightness. Sometimes, if he focused for long enough, he imagined he could see the UEC moon base, though in reality he had no idea what this would look like viewed from so far away, or even if it would be visible at all. The time he had spent there had taught him the fragile importance of their small, planetside settlement, but there was also no doubt that it had expanded his horizons; literally, as well as figuratively. Summer spoke of how passing beyond the boundary of the forest and moving ever further away from the settlement made her nervous, but Ethan still had an appetite for exploration. It was an appetite he had chosen not to feed during the years since he had returned, but it was still within him, different now compared to what it was, but still a part of him. He was sincere in his desire to preserve and protect what they had built, but he wanted to grow as well. If they were to survive they had to grow beyond the confines of the settlement walls, and the small network of other settlements they had connected with. The object that crashed through the sky and smashed into the city was a stark reminder of the fragility of their existence, and how easily it could all be taken away.
“Why land on the other side of the forest, anyway?” wondered Summer, breaking Ethan’s chain of thought.
Ethan shrugged. “Maybe they had no choice. They looked in rough condition; one even exploded before it made it down, remember?”
This fact had slipped Summer’s mind. “Yes, well that massive hunk of… whatever it was, smashing into the city sort of distracted me from that.”
Ethan sighed. “I’d like to say I’ve never seen anything quite as extraordinary as that before, but you know what? It wouldn’t actually be true.”
Summer studied Ethan for a moment; she could see that his mind was partially elsewhere; in that other place – that other world – that only he had seen. She was able to recognize the look he got, even though he tried to hide it, usually by sneaking out to his spot under the tree outside the settlement.
“Hey, just make sure you keep your head planetside, down here with me,” she said, “no matter what we find out there, okay?”
“I am here, Summer,” Ethan replied, reading between the lines. “I meant what I said before.”
Summer’s response came after a momentary hesitation; a split second in which she considered pushing Ethan harder, to make sure he wasn’t being lured back into that other world. She always tried hard to believe him, but there remained a splinter of doubt at the back of her mind that part of Ethan was still up there with the blonde-haired captain, Maria Salus. To Ethan’s credit, very early on he had been candid with Summer about what had gone on between them and how he’d felt, rather than try to brush it off as an inconsequential part of his experience. She would have seen through Ethan’s attempts to lie, anyway; Ethan was easy to read, at least to her.
“Then we should get going again,” said Summer. “Maybe we can catch them before they’ve had a chance to move off. With any luck, we’ll catch them napping, literally.”
Ethan sealed his waterskin, placed it inside his pack and stood up, swinging the pack over his shoulders. “Let’s just hope we don’t meet them in the forest, coming the other way.”
Summer shook her head. “You had to say it didn’t you?”
“Hey, if me saying stuff actually made it happen, I’d have spent the trek out here talking about trees made out of bread and honey,” said Ethan.
“It’s only the bad stuff that comes true, dummy, don’t you know anything?” Summer retorted, smiling.
“Well, in that case I hope you don’t fall face first into a pile of dung,” said Ethan.
“Hey, I’m serious, stop it!” Summer was laughing now.
A noise from inside the forest caused them both to freeze. Ethan recognized it instantly as a twig or branch snapping, as if it had been trodden on. A quick exchange of glances told Ethan that Summer thought the same, and they both retreated quickly, taking up positions behind the rocks. Smoke from the city had now crept in front of the moon, dulling the light it provided and reducing their visibility inside the forest to only a few meters. Ethan’s first instinct was to fall back, moving out of the forest completely, so that there was no chance of being snuck upon by whatever it was that made the sound. It could simply have been an animal, he reasoned, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. He was about to whisper this proposal to Summer when he saw movement through the trees; definitely the shape of a man or woman, moving swift and low; not at all like the more deliberate and open movements of a maddened creature, which would be more likely to charge in an exposed environment like this. He watched for a few seconds more and then saw the figure, illuminated more cleanly by a streak of moonlight that had broken through the claw-like branches above them. He recognized the uniform straight away as belonging to the UEC. Ethan cursed under his breath; he knew now that retreating woul
d do no good. With the sort of weapons the UEC possessed, it would simply hand them the advantage. Instead, he decided to circle behind and try to ambush whoever was trying to approach.
Ethan communicated his intent to Summer and told her to be ready. Summer nodded and nocked an arrow, keeping both the bow and her own body concealed behind the rock. Ethan gripped his short-staff tightly, took a deep breath, and started to move away from the mound, staying low and using the trees and undergrowth as cover. The figure in the UEC uniform continued on, oblivious to Ethan’s stealthy advance. Suddenly, he felt the cold press of metal against the back of his neck.
“Hold it right there,” a voice commanded.
Ethan froze. He was still holding the short-staff and his footing was good; there was a chance he could disarm his attacker, if he was fast. He prepared to move, but before he could react he heard the unmistakable whoosh of an arrow thudding into something solid, followed by a sharp cry of pain. The cold pressure at the back of his neck vanished; he spun around and saw his attacker pressed up against the tree that Ethan had been hiding behind. Springing to his feet he wedged the flat edge of the staff to his attacker’s windpipe, cutting off any further cries of pain, or shouts for help. But it was then that Ethan saw her face and the staff fell from his hands. It was Maria. Her dirty blond hair was longer, and tied back higher than he remembered it, but it was unmistakably her. Her eyes were fixed on the arrow that had penetrated though her shoulder, impaling her against the tree. Then she looked up and met Ethan’s eyes; he saw a mix of pain, fear and confusion, and then, as she recognized his face, her eyes softened and she stopped struggling against the arrow.
Another voice called out, “Step away from her, or I shoot!”
Ethan shifted his body to place Maria and the tree between him and this new adversary, which he could see was a young man, wearing the same UEC uniform and holding a weapon, its barrel aimed towards him. Then there was another swoosh and an arrow thumped into the tree next to the man’s head.
“Drop it!” shouted Summer. She was now in the perfect position on the mound, with the dual advantage of cover and elevation. She nocked another arrow and drew the string back to maximum tension, except this time the arrow was aimed at the young man’s chest.
Ethan saw the man tense up and frantically scan the darkness where the voice had come from, but he was unable to spot Summer. He looked skittish, edgy.
“I’d do as she says!” Ethan shouted towards the man. “You won’t get a second warning.”
The man swung his weapon around, aiming it randomly into the darkness and trying to scramble for cover, but there was nothing nearby that would provide sufficient protection.
“Don’t be stupid, drop the weapon!” Ethan shouted again.
“Do it!” This cry was made through gritted teeth by Maria. The pain was almost paralyzing, but she managed to call out again. “Drop it, that’s an order!”
Lieutenant Aster hesitated for a moment, but then did as Maria commanded and threw the weapon away in front of him.
“It’s okay, they’re friendly,” Maria called out, weakly. Then more quietly, so that only Ethan could hear, she added, “at least, they used to be.”
Lieutenant Aster strode up to Maria and saw Ethan, face-to-face, for the first time. Neither man spoke to the other.
“Don’t just stand there, get this thing out!” cried Maria, rushing through the sentence as fast as possible, before her breath gave out again.
Ethan knew what to do. With both hands he took a firm hold of the feathered-end of the arrow, protruding from Maria’s bloodied shoulder.
“Are you ready?”
Maria braced herself against the pain that was about to come, and then nodded. With all his strength Ethan snapped off the end of the arrow as cleanly as possible, though it was impossible to break it without jolting the arrow shaft even a little, and Maria screamed as the wood pressed against her flesh. Maria slid forward, but Ethan caught her and took her weight as the other half of the arrow that was embedded into the tree slid through the wound. Maria groaned, teeth clenched hard together, as she felt the arrow scrape through, and then she collapsed to her knees, resting heavily against Ethan.
“That… wasn’t… so… bad…” she said in between agonized intakes of breath.
Ethan laughed, a sort of giddy, nervous laughter, but before he could say anything, Aster stepped in, placed Maria’s arm over his shoulder and helped her to stand.
“Are you okay, Commander?” said Aster; he was frantic and breathless.
“I’ll live, Lieutenant,” said Maria, taking her good arm off Aster’s shoulder and clasping it over her own wounded shoulder. “Get the medipack.”
Aster looked at Ethan awkwardly, and then back at Maria.
“It’s okay, we’re old friends,” said Maria, starting to get impatient. “Now get the medipack, before I bleed to death!”
Aster nodded and scurried off into the darkness.
“Fancy seeing you here,” said Maria, with a wry smile.
Ethan had no words. He just stood there, numb. Then there was the sound of another branch snapping underfoot, and Ethan spun around to see Summer standing behind him, bow held low with an arrow loaded. She looked at Ethan and then to the woman standing behind him, and her face fell.
“You!”
Chapter 9
Summer raised the bow, aiming it at Maria’s chest, and added tension to the string.
“Summer, what are you doing?” said Ethan, though he knew exactly what she was doing, or at least what she was contemplating doing.
Lieutenant Aster returned from the gloom carrying a rectangular container, about the size of Ethan’s backpack, and saw the red-haired archer poised a few meters away from Maria. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a glint of metal, partly buried under the fallen leaves, but within a few paces from where he was standing. He dropped the Medipack and dove for his weapon, but landed short and began crawling desperately towards it. An arrow thudded into the soil between his fore and index fingers, and Aster froze.
“You got lucky, spaceman,” Summer called out to him, drawing and nocking another arrow with a well-practiced deftness. “I was aiming for your hand.”
Ethan scrambled over to where Aster lay and picked up the weapon.
“If you know what’s good for you, just keep eating dirt,” he said to the man lying prostrated on the cool earth. Then he glanced back and saw Summer raise her bow and again aim it at Maria.
“Summer, come on, lower the bow!” he called out, but Summer just ignored him.
“Of course, it had to be you, didn’t it?” spat Summer. “The world starts to fall apart again, and who shows up, but Captain Maria Salus. What interesting lies have you come to tell us this time, Sal?”
“Hello Summer,” replied Maria with a faux cheerfulness that just served to anger Summer even more. “Nice to see you again too.”
Summer gritted her teeth and pulled back harder on the bow string.
Carrying Aster’s sidearm, Ethan ran back and stepped between them. “Look, before we start killing each other, we need to take care of this wound,” he said, then added to Summer specifically, “otherwise, she’ll be dead before you have chance to kill her.”
Summer felt like she had stepped back in time. Here was Maria Salus, back again, and here was Ethan, again stepping into the line of fire to protect her; stepping between her and Ethan. She lowered the bow and removed the arrow, holding it in her hand like a dagger. “You’re going to fall for it all over again, aren’t you?” she said, standing toe-to-toe with Ethan. “You haven’t learned a damn thing, even after all this time.”
“Summer, now is not the time for this,” Ethan hit back, angry that she was so quick to go on the offensive. “We need to treat this wound, or she’ll bleed out. Then we can find out what’s going on, together.” He stressed the word together while looking her dead in the eye.
For a few seconds, Summer said nothing, and just glared back at Ethan,
almost daring him to look away, but he didn’t.
“Fine,” she said, and then looked over to the man lying in the dirt. “You… Lieutenant Brainless, go ahead and fix up your precious captain.”
Aster clenched his fists and pushed himself up and onto his feet, all the while glowering at Summer through the murky silver light.
“Go on! Shoo!” Summer teased, wafting the arrow at Aster. The young lieutenant bit his tongue and scrambled back after the medipack.
“It’s Commander now, actually,” Maria called out to Summer, with an air of haughtiness, but Summer just rolled her eyes and kept watch on Aster as he skulked around in the darkness.
Ethan turned and knelt beside Maria. “You’re not helping…” he whispered, and then he drew his knife and cut the sleeve from Maria’s uniform.
“It’s good to see you,” said Maria in a hushed voice.
Ethan stopped sawing through the fabric and swallowed hard, “It’s good to see you too, Sal.” He finished cutting away the sleeve and took a closer look at the wound. He noticed that Maria’s eyes were blinking more slowly than normal and her head was bobbing from side to side ever so slightly, as if she was close to falling asleep. He then examined the blood-soaked sleeve in his hand and the blood still seeping out of Maria’s wound. He pressed the fabric to the wound and Maria barely registered the added pressure.
“Hurry it up, she’s losing a lot of blood!” he called out to the other man. There was concern in his voice, and Lieutenant Aster heard it and picked up the pace. Summer heard it too, and she turned away. Aster dropped down heavily beside Maria and hastily unclipped the fastener on the medipack.
“It’s okay, I can take care of this,” said Aster, removing a selection of devices from the container.
Ethan stood and took a few steps backwards, watching Aster work. First he sprayed a white mist all over Maria’s shoulder from a small metal canister, which seemed to stop the bleeding and seal the wounds pretty much instantly. Then he flipped open a panel on a device fitted to his left forearm and attached a flat metal object to it, suspended on the end of a coiled red wire. Ethan remembered seeing these devices before; Maria and her old partner, Commander Chris Kurren – the General’s younger brother – had both worn them the first time they met, though curiously Maria’s was absent, and it was only now he noticed that she was dressed differently to Aster and far more formally.