The Battle for Eden

by Mark E Burgess

  As one the humans resumed firing, unleashing their weapons in a last stand against the doom closing in upon them. Sarah and Amanda plied their energy guns on the camp’s right flanks, peeking up from behind their fallen log to raze the woods beyond, then ducking down when return fire sought them out. Tyrus’s three sons stood behind their protecting trees, firing bolt after bolt as fast as their guns would discharge. Tyrus and Simon caught Knacker after Knacker in their deadly crossfire, and the forest soil was soaked with the spillage of alien body fluids.

  For a glorious moment the tide was turned, and the Crabs wilted under the onslaught, pushed back by the unexpected resolve of the humans. Then the unseen ship overhead unleashed a second volley of energy bolts. Violent explosions ripped the ground around them, blowing the humans off their feet and leaving them stunned. Simon fell to his knees, his ears ringing. He looked up as more Crabs crawled into view between trees, behind rock pillars, everywhere he could see. Their numbers were simply too great, and the odds had finally caught up with the defenders. The only thing the humans could do now was decide how they wanted to die.

  The others knew it as well. Through the dust and smoke Simon saw Tyrus on hands and knees behind his tree, and their gazes momentarily met. Over the top of the gas mask Simon could see the hopelessness in the man’s eyes. He had done all he could to save himself and his family, and it would not be enough.

  The three brothers struggled to their feet and looked at one another. They had often spoken of what they would do if the end came, and no words were needed as they exchanged knowing looks. Almost as one they raised their guns, stepped from behind their cover and opened fire on the advancing aliens. A part of Simon’s mind screamed that it was suicide, but he knew there was no alternative. He stood and added his fire to theirs, burning ammunition with no thought to the future. Dimly he heard Tyrus and the others joining in around him. The aliens maintained their attack, and incoming energy rounds zipped through the air seemingly from every direction. Twice he felt his skin burn as a bolt narrowly missed him, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he went down for good.

  Another explosion rocked the forest, loud enough to penetrate his awareness through the battle fog. A heavy cracking and popping sound dragged his gaze upward, and as he did so, the green canopy hiding the sky parted. A flaming ovoid came crashing through the tree branches, gathering speed as it dropped like a rock into the midst of the Knacker ground force. It blew apart on impact, spreading metal fragments and flame in all directions. The Crabs on the ground scattered as they tried to avoid being crushed or incinerated.

  Simon just stared for a moment, uncertain what to make of this development. A few seconds later he heard the rumble of flyers overhead, and a series of flashes lit the forest beyond the encampment. Muffled concussions echoed through the trees. The Knackers within view ceased their fire and froze, turning toward the sound. A second volley of explosions followed, and the aliens suddenly began withdrawing, melting into the woods as quickly as they had come. Within a few moments the dazed humans were alone in the battle-scarred landscape, holding their smoking weapons with no targets left to shoot at.

  Tyrus was the first to react, tearing off his mask and raising his arms to the sky. “They’ve come back!” he shouted, turning to the other defenders with a jubilant look on his face. “SpaceForce has returned to Eden! They’re kicking Knacker butt!” Even as he spoke, further detonations could be heard as the unseen forces in the sky rained down destruction on the alien ground troops.

  The family members stood staring numbly, too shell shocked to react at first. Slowly they began to realize what had happened, and a ragged cheer went up from multiple throats as despair gave way to relief, then exultation. Simon dropped his weapon and ran for the cabin, kicking in the door and frantically searching for Kate and Jessie. He found them huddled in the corner, shaken but alive. Jessie sobbed and threw herself into his arms, wrapping him tight as he reached out a hand to pull Katherine to her feet. Her face was smudged with dirt and streaked with tears, but to his eyes she had never looked prettier. The three of them clung together in a close embrace as they stood motionless in the ruined dwelling, sharing the warmth of being alive for another day.

  They eventually exited the cabin to find the family gathered on the left side of the campsite. To Simon’s surprise the mood was somber, no one celebrating their last minute reprieve from certain death. Tyrus was staring at his boots, his weapon hanging limply from one hand. As they approached, he heard a woman sobbing, and he realized it was Amanda. She was kneeling on the ground, bent over something. His heart lurched when he saw that it was a prone body.

  He and Katherine rushed toward the group, hoping to help, but Tyrus looked up and shook his head, his jaw muscles clenching. One look in his eyes told them everything. Amanda glanced up at their approach, and when she shifted Simon could see that the person on the ground was T. J. He was not moving, and the smooth hole burned into the center of his forehead was testament that he would never rise again.

  Katherine began crying, “Oh, no...no, no, no! Not T. J.! He was so young, he had his whole life....” Simon held her close as the sobs racked her, knowing there was nothing else that he could offer. He felt her pain, knew it all too well, and he knew how terribly long it would take for the family to heal. But heal they would, with the help of each and every one of those who were still living. He gathered Katherine and Jessie to him, stroking their hair as they clung to each other. They would draw strength from their closeness in the times ahead. This is what the Knackers didn’t understand, what they always would underestimate. No matter the course of events, the human spirit would not easily be broken. Humankind might be wounded, but they would not stop fighting this menace from the stars. Not until every last man, woman, and child was dust.

  For now, it was time to rest and mourn, and that is what they did, huddled in the midst of the war-torn campsite in that lonely place in the forest.

  * * * *

  They buried T. J. in a small grave near the cabin, in a place overlooking the stream where he had enjoyed sitting during quiet times. His two older brothers lowered his shrouded body gently into the earth, gazing silently at their sibling for the last time. No more silly jokes would they endure, no more pranks on unsuspecting family members. As they bid their brother goodbye, it was his sense of humor they remembered most, and they realized how much they would miss his laughter as they lived out the rest of their lives.

  The family members took turns filling the grave, each adding a few shovels’ worth of earth before passing the implement to the next person. Simon was last, and he tamped the dirt firmly down before backing away. They marked the spot with an Ironwood marker that bore his name. Amanda had engraved it using T. J.’s zip blade. Then they stood in a rough circle as they paid their final respects. A warm breeze wafted softly over them, carrying the sounds and smells of living things, a reminder of nature’s steady strength amidst the turmoil that beset them. It was a peaceful setting, beautiful with the water and the rocks and trees all around. Simon thought that it was a fitting place to rest, when all one’s work was done.

  Chapter Ten

  For two more months the family remained at the cabin. Tyrus monitored airwave transmissions from the radio set which somehow had survived the firefight. The news was encouraging; the Federation forces had set upon the Knackers in a surprise attack, and were slowly retaking the planet. After wiping out the alien fleet still in orbit, the humans had used space-based rail guns and mass launchers to destroy the alien landers where they sat on the ground. The mass launchers threw small meteorites of nickel-iron composition, common space debris that could be harvested with ease. When shot from the launchers on an exact trajectory, these crude projectiles accelerated down the planet’s gravity well to hit with devastating force on the surface. Precisely chosen for their size, so as to not burn up in the atmosphere, but also not to cause more than local destruction, the impacting rocks reduced the massive alien pyr
amids to piles of melted slag with stunning efficiency.

  Each destroyed landing vessel took with it tens of thousands of Knacker soldiers. To overrun those structures with ground troops would have meant prolonged bloody battles and loss of countless human troops. On the down side, the ships were already loaded with thousands of human prisoners, all of whom were lost in those initial assaults. Such was the heavy price of war. Simon consoled himself with the knowledge that the people on board those harvest vessels at least died cleanly, saved from the nightmarish end the Crabs had planned for them.

  The family stayed busy, in part because their survival depended on it, and partly to avoid dwelling on the loss of their youngest boy. They repaired the damage to the cabin, making it weatherproof and livable once again. The tents were beyond hope, but they were able to salvage some goods that hadn’t been consumed in the fires. Food and clothing were in shorter supply than had been planned, and Tyrus took his sons into the woods regularly to hunt and gather fresh foodstuffs. Living under one roof was crowded, but they were beyond any embarrassment or awkwardness at this point, and everyone pitched in to make it work.

  It was late autumn, with days becoming short and a chill in the air, by the time Simon and the McKinleys left the cabin for good. They slowly made the trek on foot through the deep forest, over the hills and out into the grasslands of the homestead. As they exited Dark Hollow at last, they stopped and looked around, squinting in the unaccustomed light of the open sky as they took in the outside world for the first time in months.

  Tyrus spoke for them all when he said, “It’s damned good to see the sun again.”

  Simon nodded, smiling at Katherine as she stood by his side. She had lost some weight, and her hair hung long and unstyled, but she still was the most beautiful thing on Eden. He turned to Tyrus and asked, “Where will they meet us?”

  The older man shrugged uncertainly. “Somewhere out on the flats; I gave them our approximate location and homestead designation. We’ll just have to head toward the house and see what happens.”

  Everyone nodded stoically; living in the wilderness had hardened each of them, and the thought of an additional overland trek didn’t elicit the slightest protest. They picked up their belongings and began the long hike across the fields, moving at a relaxed pace. Everyone still carried weapons, as much from habit now as from need, but there was no anxiety, no searching the sky for the enemy. It was safe to walk Eden once again.

  They actually traversed nearly the entire five kilometers to the homesite before anyone found them. A distant growl turned into a rumble, and a speck in the southern sky materialized into a Federation transport ship heading their way. It saw them and altered course, slowing and setting down gently a few hundred meters from where they stood waiting. Ironically it was only a short distance from where the Knacker disc ship had crashed and burned during the assault on their home a lifetime before.

  Captain Jake Mahoney jumped from the shuttle’s landing platform to the ground, striding out to meet the survivors. He was young, in his mid-twenties, fit and trim, with blond hair that bristled in a regulation military cut. He had donned a freshly pressed uniform for the occasion, as he knew one of the personnel he was picking up was a SpaceForce major. He shook his head as he got his first good look at the ragtag group. They stood in a tight cluster holding a motley assortment of weapons, sporting tattered clothes, shaggy hair, and unshaven beards. To him they looked like a bunch of backwoods refugees. Still, they appeared to be in good health, albeit a bit thin.

  He approached and hailed the group. “Greetings. I am Captain Mahoney of SpaceForce. Is one of you Major Simon Roy?”

  “That’s me,” a dark-haired man to the left spoke up. He had his arm wrapped around a pretty woman who stood close at his side.

  “Nice to see you’re alive, sir,” the officer said, coming to attention and saluting formally.

  “At ease,” Simon replied, returning the salute with his free hand. “What’s the situation?”

  “We’ve cleared this sector of enemy forces,” the captain reported. “Now that we’ve got resources to spare, we’re doing recon and picking up survivors where we can find them. We wouldn’t have been this far out yet, except that we got your airwave communication a couple days ago.”

  “Well, we’re certainly glad to see you,” Simon said, grinning. “I could use a hot bath and haircut, not to mention a fresh uniform.”

  “We’ll get right on that, Major,” the captain told him with a smile. The officer looked around the landing area, and whistled as he took in the blackened remains of the Crab ship and multiple armored transports that dotted the terrain. “What the hell happened here?” he asked in surprise. “It looks like a major skirmish was fought on this ground.”

  “There was one, and we kicked the Crabs’ tails,” Sarah spoke up, her chin thrust proudly forward.

  “You did this?” the captain asked, eyebrows disappearing into his hairline. “Damn! I’m glad you’re on our side. You’ve done yourself proud, Major.” The captain sounded almost reverent as his gaze panned the field.

  “I can’t take the credit,” Simon told the captain. “The rest of the family did their share; if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be here to tell the tale.”

  “Ah, I see,” the ship’s officer nodded. “These are your family, then?”

  Simon hesitated, unsure of how to respond. Before he could reply, Amanda smiled and said, “Yes, he’s part of our family.” The others grinned and nodded, looking at Simon with open affection. He felt his face blushing, and simply nodded in return, not trusting himself to speak.

  The captain smiled and gestured toward the waiting transport, and the family moved to the vessel where the waiting crew helped them on board. As the ship rose into the sky, Simon had a bird’s-eye view of the receding homestead. The rubble of the ruined house was clearly visible in the center of a large scorched circle on the earth, surrounded by skeletons of Knacker assault vehicles. He, and his new family, had lived and fought and forged unbreakable bonds on that ground. Whether they ever came back to settle on it again, it would always hold a dear spot in his memories. Katherine held his hand tightly as the image dwindled to a speck, then the ship turned and flew southward toward civilization.

  * * * *

  A few weeks later Simon stood on the spaceport landing field, next to the waiting shuttle that would take him to his carrier ship. His old commander, Colonel Hastings, had survived the initial defense of Eden along with his ship, the Xerxes. Simon’s carrier had escaped annihilation via escape into hyperspace during the battle, and it now orbited the planet awaiting his arrival. It was being restocked with Avenger class fighters as fast as they became available.

  Simon stood in his dress uniform, the lapel freshly adorned with a Gold Nova, the SpaceForce award for valor during combat. The family were all there to see him off. Tyrus was muted in his comments, his gaze half focused elsewhere as had been his tendency since that last stand in the forest. Simon took him aside when they had a moment, and spoke earnestly in his ear. “I know you don’t want to hear any advice, but I’m going to give you some regardless,” Simon began. Tyrus began to protest, but Simon held up his hand and said, “Just listen. I’ll only say this once. I’ve watched you withdraw and become less a part of your family’s life since T. J. passed. Believe me when I say that I know what it’s like to lose those closest to you. My wife and daughter died in this war. They didn’t get a chance to go down in a fair fight; they were taken, and I never knew their exact fate. I have to assume they were processed and became food for some alien dinner party.”

  Tyrus looked up at that, and Simon knew he had the man’s attention. Pain was something the grieving father could relate to, and the fact that Simon had been there already was the only leverage he could use to get through to his friend. He continued, “I wasn’t alive when I came to Eden. I was just a shell, something less than a man, and I lived only to exact vengeance on those who had injured me. Don’t become
that person, Tyrus. It’s a lonely existence, and you still have those who need you. Whatever you’re feeling, they are going through it as well. Your family needs your strength; give it to them. You’ll find that you will heal yourself while you’re helping the ones you love.”

  Tyrus nodded, his expression somber as he stared at the ground. Finally he cleared his throat and said, “Those are wise words, Simon. I’ll take them under advisement. It’s just been hard to cope with the reality of him being gone. No father should have to outlive his son.”

  Simon smiled in sympathy and nodded. “Amen to that. But we can’t change the past; we can only live in the present. Lean on your family, Tyrus; they’ll be there for you. It’s okay to grieve over your son’s dying. Just don’t let it keep you from celebrating those who are living.”

  He shook Tyrus’s hand, and the other man returned his grip firmly. “Good luck out there,” Tyrus said. “You make it back, you hear me? There’s two ladies who will be missin’ ya something fierce.”

  “I plan on it,” Simon promised him. “Speaking of ladies, I’ve got to say goodbye to someone.” He clapped Tyrus on the shoulder and moved off to where Katherine and Jessie stood together. They smiled as he approached, though little Jess seemed to be fighting back tears.

  “Do you have to go, Uncle Simon?” she asked him, her lip trembling.

  “Yes, my girl,” he said gently. “I’ve got to help SpaceForce rid the galaxy of those darned Crabs. They’ll keep pestering us if we don’t get after them. But I’ll return when I’m done, I promise.”

  “You’d better. I’ll be really mad if you don’t come see us again,” Jessie pouted.

  “And I’d be really sad if I didn’t see you two again,” Simon replied, kneeling down to face her. “You take care of your mom for me, okay? And watch over my Darter,” he added, undoing the cord around his neck and handing her the small cloth pouch.