Dawn of Hope- Exodus

by Dobrin Kostadinov

  On my way there I did not have a festive feeling, though. I could not leave behind all the fear, the damage and the death just like that. Of course it was a miracle we were alive, but I did not think that was the end of our misfortune. As I strode down the ramp I saw Menoetius for the first time and I was greeted by its wind which blew in through the opening. I remember the steps I made to put my feet on the ground under the blazing sun like it was yesterday.

  There were still traces of something burnt in the air, but it was palpably clearer than that on Earth. This is heaven, was my first thought when I gazed up at the bright blue sky and the gigantic sun that had a little sister, throwing its pale light down at the other end of the horizon. At that instant the secondary engines of the machine were turned off–that was probably a sign we were going to stay since turning them back would have taken minutes, if not hours. I felt like I was in the middle of a completely unknown exotic corner of the Universe. The air was suitable for breathing and the temperature was about 30° C. Warm and wet–absolutely favorable conditions for maintaining a diverse flora and fauna. Gravity, on the other hand, was a tiny problem I experienced when we land on the planet. Perhaps the extra weight would come a bit heavy until we grew used to it. There was another peculiar thing, though–an odd noise that I heard after the commotion got a bit toned down. I could not figure out where it came from. Did the ship produce it or its source was somewhere in our vicinity . . . The tone seemed to be changing its direction and felt as though it had sunk somewhere between us. In the beginning I was stunned by the buzzing, yet I did not give it the attention it deserved. In a short while I made a good circle around the ship together with the other passengers. At first glance it was a peaceful walk under the strong sun which was shining in a rather cozy and welcoming fashion. I liked that despite the scent of singe under my feet . . . At the end of my twelve-minute walk I decided to go back on board the ship to see what orders our saviors would issue and whether we could stay out and sleep in tents or it was recommendable to stay in. I headed for one of the entrances and much as I wanted to get back, I was one of the few who actually went back inside. On my way there I thought about how grateful I was for being there, for the fact that the people who brought me there did not only save me from demise or wicked fate, but they had also chosen me to be part of that new beginning. I felt proud, but I had no idea where that came from, no idea if I owed it to my job, to my personality or to an incredible once-in-a-lifetime luck. But over the next few days I realized that joy could be as strong and infinite as it could be ephemeral and not leave a single trace in its wake.

  Less than sixty-five feet away from the ramp when a deafening rumble echoed throughout the area yet again–a terrifying sound from a massive explosion somewhere in the distance, accompanied by a strong shock wave and a blinding light against the horizon . What a horror! We still have not enjoyed the air fully and death was once again close to us. The ship’s sirens turned on and I broke into run towards the steel titan. I rushed to the ship so frantically that despite all the screaming and the mass panic, I did not turn to snatch a single glance of what followed until I was deep into the metal bird. The air was breathable, the gravity was decent, the environment was fit for living and inhabiting. Why could we not finally take a break? What went wrong again and was there such thing as luck at all? Very soon I was going to learn that there were more fearsome things than collision, fire and death . . .

  I wandered around the dimly lit corridors for about ten minutes before I found a suitable place for observation. It took me roughly the same time to get to the spot where I watched our descent and landing. I cast an impatient look out the window and saw how the last group of people left outside shoved itself on board, but all soldiers, all fighting units arranged themselves strategically in a defensive position and prepared all weapons, ammunitions and vehicles for combat. What the hell was going on? We were not affected by the new blast–it just gave us a bit of a shake. I did not see an immediate threat to our lives, but I needed to know that had been. My entire body was burning with curiosity and fear. A crowd of people who looked scared and aggravated gathered around me, waiting to see what was happening. Some started spreading information about the crash while we were landing. There was a lot of whispering and some emotional outbursts among the people who got the news right in front of me. Some women even burst out in tears and the men around were thunderstruck. In the end I decided to ask someone in case they were acquainted with the situation.

  ‘Hey, you!’ I turned around and chatted up a man, standing behind me. He turned his empty gaze and met mine and while I talked to him I saw him turning paper white. ‘Tell me what’s going on? What did they tell you?’ I asked impatiently, yet timidly. He spoke in a monotonous voice, as though he was not really there with everyone else, as though he was worn out by what he had heard and mumbled incoherently.

  ‘They said that when we enter the atmosphere, the Chinese ship burnt up,’ he said and went on in barely understandable fashion. ‘The Russian machine Stalingrad II went to the rescue at the site of the remnants. During the rescue mission Stalingrad was attacked by a large number of creatures. In an attempt to escape from the assault, the Russian ship took off, but crashed some two thousand feet ahead.’ That was what the man wanted to say or at least what I made out of his words. At first I thought it was a fabrication of a sort meant to quench our primal curiosity. But I was wrong again.

  The military units outside positioned themselves at their posts and waited in silence. Were there really other creatures that we were going to face? Were they a rational form of life and were they responsible for the two explosions? I was to find out very soon, but at that very moment I felt pitiful, like I was a refugee. We could not go back to Earth, but we could not stay in the Cosmos either because we would not have enough resources to last long. Even though we were intruders, we were not seeking to wage a war, we did not want to bother anyone or anything. All we wanted was just a piece of land and a chance to start our endangered species anew. That was not meant to sound like we were an aggressor. At that case there was just no other solution to the problem and that very desperation left us with no other choice but to take decisive action and not give up even if we had to fight for our right. Humanity was like an organism which needed environment and resources to nurture itself. At first we saw numerous creatures which formed different shapes on the horizon–they looked like flocks of birds. Were they flying away from someone or they giving somebody a signal about our whereabouts . . . While I was trying to figure that one out the first solid contact between the two domineering species was established, initiated by our race, and it happened literally about two thousand feet in front of me. I had the incredible luck to steal a glance of what was happening in the distance in spite of the multitude of people cramming together behind the window to get a glimpse of the events outside. What my eyes managed to see in some resemblance of a focus was an image of grayish-white creature which came out of the nearby forest walking on two feet. It approached the fence slowly and began running in circles around it like an enraged gorilla which threw trees and stones at us. Out of precaution, no one dared to fire or show any form of power. The creature managed to sense our fear. It let out such a powerful and long roar that the sound echoed inside our ears even though we were on board the ship, isolated by the hull plating. Hundreds, if not thousands of its kind appeared behind it at that moment, deafening the area. Then we finally realized just how many they actually were. The first grayish-white beast started climbing up the fence with its strong limbs. Then our guardians opened fire on it. At that instant began the first war for our place in the Milky Way. Hundreds of bullets whooshed ahead, piercing its body, but it almost reached the top of the fence despite the rain of lead. The first contact was lethal, but not for us. Things, however, changed extremely fast . . . The creatures were hard to kill and until our brave fighters managed to neutralize them, but their numbers and strength quickly overpowered us. The first group of th
e beasts managed to overcome the fence and thus stirred up massive confusion and death in our ranks, flinging about a few APCs, machine gun nests and dozens of our defenders. They managed to draw the attention to themselves and we could see how the other aliens, completely undisturbed, began destroying the fence that quickly gave way under their stout limbs.

  Just what sort of thing was I witnessing, was that really happening? We were being attacked by monsters without having any chance to negotiate. The war between the earthlings and the Menoetian critters began with a massive bloodshed. The soldiers gradually started falling back. For a few minutes they managed to keep the battle away from the ship, protecting our only dear flying fortress. But the progressive increase in the death toll and the constant influx of the otherworldly creatures brought the battle to close quarters. The injured and killed soldiers were torn apart mercilessly or served as food to some of the newly arrived demons. I saw all of it–the unbearable sight of the unknown species took a hyenic predominance over our ranks. The planet seemed to be like a fairytale vampire who was only after nothing but blood. Everything unfolded before my eyes at lightning speed and I was not the only witness of the crushing spectacle. When the hordes thronged at the exits the panic that raged among us was unseen. Screaming people were bolting in all directions. A warning came over the loudspeakers: “We’re asking all civilians on board to hide away in one of the mess halls.” The message was repeated three times as the red lights of the PA system blinked. That induced total terror in us. I was left with no other choice but to run for the hiding places. My heart turned into a ball and crept up to my throat, I was so petrified I did not see or hear anyone. With teary eyes I stood up in a long crowded line between the corridors. The narrow doors that were supposed to keep us safe from fire and floods were now hampering us and that coupled together with the panicked lot created a blockage. A good prerequisite for a stampede that could claim dozens, if not hundreds of lives. The portion of the people waiting at the entrance could not go through as fast as the next one was coming. It was growing larger and larger by the second and the pressure on those who managed to squeeze through the door was deathly. I felt that feeling of being wedged by the people at the tail of the line while I was waiting for my crushing turn. But I had to do something, otherwise I was going to be minced . . . I was at the end of my rope, yet I found it in me to turn around and push away the screaming people that were leaning on me. It was as though I was fighting a multinumbered enemy and once I managed to come out and get to a safe spot at the sides, I picked my brains for another route that would lead me to the mess hall. I remembered I could try to go a level down and use the metallurgy complex to make it to the hiding place faster. I knew that on its far side there was another corridor which ended in cargo elevator that could take me down. Then, with no time to think a lot, I headed for another exit, but the situation there was the same–another branch of the mob upstairs accompanied by yelling people and scenes of panic and violence. There was a door behind me that could take me to the hall where the cleaning supplies and the pallet boxes with soap bars and shampoo were stored. I walked in the store-room, but I could hear a plethora of muffled screams even there. However, I had two cargo elevators and one passenger elevator right in front of me and they could well have been my salvation. I rushed ahead and when I got to them I started pushing the buttons frantically. In a matter of seconds the one on my left came. I turned in its direction, ready to jump in. But once the door slid open a whole bunch of people from the maintenance staff poured out in panic, pushing their way out, trying to join the universal chaos. One of the men from the last surge of people coming out of the elevator saw I wanted to get in and reach another level. He grabbed me strongly by the arm.

  ‘Boy, it’s the same up there, too. Better take the elevator here and not go downstairs. The military are having a fierce battle at first and second levels right now. Should you go down, you will find only death, maybe even your own, too,’ he said and let me through. His words rang in my head along with the turmoil. What was I to do? Was it possible that I had made a grave mistake that would now cost me my life? I did not know if there was any point in going down, but I did not want to just stay there, wondering what to do either, I was already wasting valuable time. There was no one else who wished to pile into the elevator, so I got in and descended–alone and crazy enough to do the illogical thing in order to save myself. I kept hearing people shrieking, only this time there were also a few wild piercing cries. It was them–the Menoetian inhabitants that induced unimaginable terror upon their very arrival.

  That’s why I stopped at level one where I heard the multiple gunshots of the defense fire. The gates opened and hell itself came into view. The battle with the burning furnace in its background was epic; one of the steel-casting machines had gone out of order, spilling melt everywhere. There was fire and brimstone at the background of the soldiers who were standing at the gates, shooting at the beasts that little by little came nearer, invading our shelter. That was the final defense line we had. The combat broke out so fast that our guardians failed to seal off the cargo gates on time and that was the very site that the grayish-white used to flood the corridors. There was nothing for me to do there, I had to leave immediately–time was running out. Much as I wanted us to win, it became clear to me that we were not going to win that one. That realization hit me as I was running along the metallurgical complex. The bullets were singing past my ears, but I did not stop even for a second, I crossed the entire hall for two or three minutes. But before I reached the other end, I heard the multinumbered alien horde storming in every section of the ship completely unobstructed. At that very moment my eyes fell upon a cargo elevator that led to the mess hall. I had no other option but to press the button and wait, shaking in terror. I turned around and saw the monsters razing the premises almost completely, slaughtering everyone in their way. The lights were almost completely dead, but the comforting sound of the coming elevator added the needed shred of hope and I jumped in, vigorously attacking the button that was to shoot me upwards. The doors started closing slowly and the creatures were so close that I could sense their wet, sinister breath before I was lifted to the upper levels. I could not believe my luck! Our baneful fate was beginning to reveal itself in an ever clearer way. Seconds later the elevator stopped on the next floor where the unknown waited to greet me. I just curled up in the corner and waited with bated breath for the door to open. There was nothing threatening outside, so I walked out and cast a look in each direction. My heart could finally find some peace, I was close. The massive mess hall doors were on the left–they were about to close any moment now. I saw that there was no crowd, standing outside, just a few people who had arrived late. But just as I was to quicken my pace in the direction of my probable salvation, I heard gunshots at the other end of the corridor. I turned around for a second and I saw the flickers of weapons in the distance and a man in uniform who was running towards me as fast as he could. At first my eyes could not focus on the image very well, but as it approached me at the speed of light, I was able to distinguish his face. It was Milev. He was paper white and his movements gave away his fear. And I saw the reason why–two soldiers came running after him, but a beast caught up with them and ripped them apart, it was impervious to the gunfire. I did not wait to see what was to come, I just turned around and ran for my life. I felt like I was in a nightmare. About fifteen feet away from the gates of salvation, the Lieutenant caught up with me, grabbed me by the arm as we were both in motion and pulled me towards him. We flung ourselves down on the mess hall floor right before the door had slid close and before the grayish-white managed to throng in front of the premises and start banging and snarling on the other side.

  In all honesty, I was too exhausted both physically and emotionally to really enjoy my temporary escape. The question was: “Now what?” Where are we going to go from here on? I did not know if those were the right questions, but I could not find peace until I knew the answers. I p
icked myself up, propping on my arms first, and then got up on my feet safe and sound. The officer was close by me, sitting on the cold floor. He looked around searching for wounds and bloodshed, but they were minor. I saw his gun lying a dozen feet away, the one he was squeezing in his hand as we ran a while ago. I decided to hand it to him and to thank him for the help. When I took it and headed towards him, the people around looked at me, scared, and then the military officers pointed their guns at me. But I did not care about that, I just went up to Milev to offer him my hand.