by Bowring, S D
“You two, let’s go.” They were interrupted by Bula who was already putting his backpack on.
They headed down towards the river again and followed its path for about 100 metres before heading in an easterly direction.
“Has the plan changed?” asked Keller, looking back over his shoulder at Ash who seemed to be immersed in thought.
“Not really. The heli will no doubt expand its search, which means I don’t expect it back soon but it does mean we need to walk a bit further to come around the top of the settlement we were aiming for. We’re aiming for a settlement called Norske by the way.”
“Is it all through the forests now?”
“No, it’s away from the river but we will be going through another long valley once we have gone over this hill. It will take us down into a rocky area where you won’t find many trees. Different terrain - not easy; but we just have to look ahead and aim for what we can see and not worry about the journey too much.”
They did find more of the animal paths to follow here and there, but the heli had slowed them down by necessitating a diversion and now their spirits were subdued.
They continued to walk until a shortnight break. These two hours of darkness they spent beside a large rock, just resting in their nightbags - Keller and Bula both managing a short sleep whilst the other two quietly talked.
Tane later told Keller that Ash knew her mother, who had been head nurse at the Plymouth Rock medical centre. “Small worlds,” she remarked, “but then ours is smaller than your world,” she added, which brought a smile to his face. The conversation also reminded Keller of home and he pondered about his family. They would probably have difficulty in grasping what he had gone through so far.
Before they set off again, Bula took out a heating pack - a mini stove. He made some tea from the fresh leaves of a shrub growing near the rock. It was the first hot ‘anything’ that Keller had eaten or drunk for a while. It smelt like parsley and was surprisingly refreshing. “As good as the ancient grog,” Bula had said. This little interlude seem to raise the spirits of all four. Though Ash kept giving backward glances at the trail, he also appeared invigorated when they set off again.
“Not far until we exit this part of the forest,” he said. They were back on the forest carpet, as they called it, and Tane was now walking alongside Keller, whilst Bula and Ash followed in deep conversation.
“For someone so soon out of deep sleep, you are keeping up well,” Tane said.
“Maybe I can just hide the grimaces well,” he smiled. “My feet are in a state, though, as if, they have walked through stinging nettles!”
“Stinging nettles?” she enquired, looking puzzled.
Keller was about to answer when he heard a whoosh. There was a cry and then another whoosh. Splinters rained down on him and he was suddenly disoriented. He felt someone take hold of him and push him “Run! This way, run!” He stumbled forward, aware of Tane doing the same ahead of him. Bula passed him, taking hold of Tane’s arm and pulling her forward. He could see blood on the back of Bula’s head and Tane looked shocked but was managing to keep her footing. Ash was still next to him, urging him on. He heard another whoosh and more splinters flying through the air. His face stung and he was aware he was going to lose his step if he didn’t start looking down instead of around him.
“Keep going! The trees are hampering their aim!” shouted Ash.
Keller still hadn’t looked back. Ash’s shouting had spurred them on and they careered through the forest. Clump of rocks were appearing ahead and they ran for the safety of these when Ash shouted at them to stop and take cover.
They threw themselves down. Ash immediately got up to look back. Satisfying himself that their attackers were some way off, he took out his slate and started working intently. Bula had his pack off and was throwing some items out to get to something at the bottom. He pulled out a handheld triggered operated weapon and looked over the rock cautiously. “No sight of them,” he said, then ducked down to re-pack his bag. He then did the same with Ash’s.
Bula looked over the rock again and cursed. “They are some way off. Luckily we had too many trees between them and us. Those were lethal weapons, Ash. Lethal! They are off-plan surely.”
“I don’t know! Kurk may have fired up some people who aren’t easily contained. Or he may be at a point where he doesn’t care. I don’t know. Check the flanks left and right, see if you can see anything.”
“Nothing,” said Bula. He dropped down again and calmed a little. “You two okay?” he asked, looking at Tane and Keller, who were trying to get their breath back.
“Bula? You’re bleeding too!” Tane said and moved over to him. She was limping. He looked at her leg with some concern. “It’s okay, I just stepped on something,” she said, grimacing.
Tane took a small pack out of the side of her backpack and wiped the area on the back of Bula’s head gently, but he grimaced anyway. “You have a bit of a large splinter just sticking out here,” she said, gently touching the side of his head. He reached up and gingerly felt around. Tane pulled out a piece of chipped wood about the size of a front tooth that had embedded itself on the edge of his scalp. “Ouch!” he said.
“Your ear is bleeding too,” said Tane who treated both wounds. “Nothing serious, though.”
“A weapon was fired at us but they hit the ground short and it threw up wood and splinters. It was some way behind us.” Ash said, looking up briefly from his slate.
Tane went over to Ash. “I’m fine,” he said.
“A nice welcome you have had to Rayleigh,” she said grimly to Keller, as she went over to see if he was okay.
“I’m fine,” Keller said. He was now studying the forest to see if he could see any movement. “Do we have any of those?” He asked Bula, pointing at the two handheld weapons.
“I do, but you don’t. They are stun pistols. I don’t like them, in a few cases they have led to fatalities. Once hit you can’t always avoid what you fall on as you have no control. Generally, in extreme cases, they are effective. I think this might become an extreme case. If you need to use them then they are fairly simple to use. Unlock, Point, Squeeze, and Stun.”
Tane, at Keller’s prompting unpacked her own stun pistol.
“Friends, I won’t be a minute. I am trying to send a coded message off, and then we will leave and seek some other route out,” Ash said.
“There’s no sign of anyone, Ash,” said Bula, “they may have fired and ducked down. They probably aren’t sure if any of us are injured given the cloud of wood and leaves. Unless, of course, they were deliberately firing short?”
Tane sat with Keller. She showed him how to unlock and fire the stun pistol. “Don’t point this at anyone unless you are intending to disable them temporarily and willing to deal with their wrath when they recover. Keep it locked and pointed downwards. When you unlock it, you should still keep it down until you need to fire. It needs a good squeeze on the trigger when you are ready to use it - a good, strong squeeze.”
Bula came over to the rock they were sheltering behind. “Tane, Ash wants to show you the comms protocol. You may need to send and receive a message if we split up. Go, quickly, we need to get moving. Keller, come with me,” he said moving towards the rock that was overlooking the area they had run from.
“These are my binos, you can adjust them using this slider here. Just look through these down towards where we came from and either side. See if you can see any movement at all while we get ready. I can’t see anything. Ash has used his heat and sound sensor and nothing is showing, but that can be thwarted if they are wearing the right clothing and keeping quiet.”
Keller looked through the binos and moved the slider backwards and forwards, occasionally taking his eye off of it to get a better judge of the area he was looking at.
It was fairly straightforward and he had searched the area for 10 minutes or so when he was tapped on the shoulder by Bula again, who had his backpack on. He took the binos and p
ut them in Keller’s side pocket. “Take care of them,” he said, “Let’s go,” and he pointed in the direction they had originally been heading, beyond the rocks and towards the next valley.
Ash waited behind them, looking back towards their invisible adversaries. “Bula, take them to the next clump of rocks up there.” He pointed towards a group of larger rocks ahead. “Now!”
Bula ushered Tane and Keller forward towards the next clump of rocks. Tane kept up with Keller despite the slight limp that she now had. Keller was a little concerned about her as he could see the side of her shoe was red with blood, although it didn’t seem to be spreading.
They dropped behind the rocks and waited tensely. Ash suddenly came around the corner and dropped down next to them. He looked angry. “Okay, so far,” he said looking at Bula. “You two okay?” he asked of Keller and Tane. They both nodded. Keller was getting a headache, presumably the tension he thought. He rubbed his temple.
“Okay, next group of rocks. Same thing.” He looked over the rock he was leaning against.
Bula led the way again. They waited behind the rock for Ash.
Whoosh. Another cloud of splintered wood and dust covered them. Bula looked over the rock. He dropped quickly, looking momentarily stricken. He then recovered and looked at Tane and Keller. “Ash.” He said looking suddenly pale. “He’s not moving.” He looked over the rock again, then he pulled off his backpack. He crawled to the side of the rock and rolled over another rock. Then he crawled forward towards Ash.
Tane and Keller remained still. Tane told Keller not to budge. She looked as frightened as he felt.
Bula returned carrying the slate. “He’s hurt, but he’s alive and conscious. He’s going to need medical attention there is no immediate danger to his life. That was lethal force again!” Bula was almost in a rage.
“What injuries has he got?” Tane asked.
“I’m not a doctor! He’s slurring his words and has cuts to his face and he’s lying prone. One of his legs has a lot of blood on it. I can’t see anyone, I don’t know where they are but if I get to them they are in for a whole lot of trouble.”
“Calm down, Bula. Think!” urged Tane. “He may have concussion,” she paused, “he was right though, we have to keep moving.”
She took the slate off Bula. They know we are here. So there is no point in coding any message. “I’ll request a mediheli. They will pick up the request as well and at least Ash can be treated.”
“We hope,” said Bula, still seething.
Tane sent the message. Bula looked over the rock and shouted towards Ash. “Medics are on the way Ash. Stay where you are.”
They heard an angry “Go!” from Ash, which was some relief to them. Then they agreed to set off, one at a time towards the next set of rocks which straddled the hill towards the next valley.
Keller was sent first. Despite his tiredness, he was now angry and he seemed to acquire a second wind. He sprinted for the next rocks, darting to and fro. He edged forward and looked over the valley, just as Tane came over the rocks too. There were buildings in the distance, mainly domed, although some had straight sloped roofs.
“Ash was going to skirt around that settlement but we may have no choice but to seek help. It’s a village. You might get along with these, Keller - they are similar to your Outsiders, in truth.” Tane said panting. “He had some connections at the other settlement which is larger and not so easily bullied by the likes of Kurk and his people.”
Bula came around the corner. “I hope you were right about them picking up our messages. What’s that down there?”
“We don’t know if they are part of the conspiracy,” Tane said nodding towards the settlement. “We should wait until longnight and enter one of the buildings. At least we can hide our heat sources down there. We may need to split up when we get there. We have to assume they are looking for three. Three heat sources together might be a problem.”
“Possibly,” said Bula. Keller detected some despondence in Bula. Tane looked at him with some concern too.
“Well, I suggest we get going fast” said Tane. “We can head along this side of the valley as the trees drop over the other side a little way. They will give us cover from the settlement and from anyone following. At the end of the valley, there is a track leading to the settlement. We can cross that in the dark when longnight starts.”
Bula appeared to shake himself out of his thoughts. “Good plan, Tane. Are you two okay to start moving?” They looked back, each one of them thinking about Ash. In truth he had led all three of them this far and they were less confident without him. None of them would air this thought, but it was clearly felt by all.
Keller was impressed that Tane was keeping so positive and taking charge. It gave him some assurance that they might make it out of this mess.
An hour or so after they had left Ash, they heard a heli quietly buzzing some way behind them for about twenty seconds, followed by silence. They waited, concealed in the rocks. After twenty minutes the sound restarted, then faded away. The trio were sure that someone had been alerted to pick up Ash. At this point, like the Doctor Clark they had to leave at the prison, it was sufficient to know that he was being cared for. They had no idea if the heli had dropped anyone but felt they would have scouted the area first.
They set off quickly. They were now more driven by fear than before and, in Keller and Bula’s case, a certain amount of anger was driving them. It took them over an hour to clamber over the rocks between the trees, which were thinner just over the valley edge. They were wary about coming across any of the settlers in the nearby village before they were ready to reveal themselves.
They rested for a while, hidden amongst rocks. At Keller’s suggestion they wore their nightbags which disguised their heat source. They spoke in careful whispers. This was a waiting game now, Bula had warned them. Keller peered through the binos whilst peeking out of his night bag. Bula had used the heat monitor function on the slate, it showed nothing behind him. It did, however, reveal about seventy distinguishable shapes in the settlement. He remarked that there could be more out of range. He put the slate away after sending the coded six musical notes message to show that they were okay. He knew that Government House would have picked up the mediheli request for Ash, but they would want to know that the remaining trio were still holding out.
Just as dusk came, Bula suggested that they were better off sending in one person initially and then signalling for the others if the village was ‘on side’. They may even be unaware of the latest events, he suggested.
While they were discussing the practicalities of this, Bula saw a party of about a fifteen workers coming from the west in two groups. They were then followed by some workers in twos and threes heading for the village. Keller and Tane agreed it would be good for Bula to follow them in.
Bula left his backpack with them after taking a small bag out. He placed his nightbag and some other items, including a flashlight, in the same bag. He left the slate with Tane.
The workers appeared to be carrying food bags and he wanted to appear as though he was a straggler from the same group. He made his way further along the trees and came out from the same area that they had emerged. He sauntered along the track. Tane and Keller watched nervously peering between the rocks, still in their nightbags.
Keller was nervous and uncomfortable. His feet were getting in a worse state and Tane was no better. Keller admired Tane, because, whilst they both had inadequate footwear, he had the impression that he was far more used to outdoor walking than Tane and would expect her to be suffering a lot more.
They stayed tight to each other peering through the rocks. It was getting dark and they planned their approach to the track in the event Bula signalled them. It would be tricky, but they had no choice. They both agreed that the worst part was they hadn’t seen the people firing on them, either time. Had these people been close, or had they been at a great distance, or was the weapon operated remotely? They had no idea, an
d waiting for another attack was making Keller shiver.
“Keller, you’re shaking - we are okay. Ash has been looked after, I am sure. We will make it,” Tane whispered reassuringly.
A single flash came from the direction of the settlement. As planned, Bula had picked a spot next to the left of a trio of domes.
They put their backpacks on. Keller took Bula’s backpack, as they didn’t want any evidence of their visit left behind. They made their way carefully to the track and then walked briskly towards the village. Keller was about to visit his first village off-world and he was tired and worried. Tane held his hand as they walked to give the impression of a couple strolling back home. He was grateful for her presence and even happier when he saw Bula with a group of about ten men and women standing alongside what appeared to be a mule and cart.
“Look at you two!” one of the women said. “Come with us.” Bula nodded at them and smiled. “They will help”.
The villagers, who referred to themselves as foresters, then introduced themselves. Keller struggled to remember the names but understood that the older woman who spoke to them was called Carla and her husband, of a similar age, was Jay. The foresters turned towards one of the homes that had a sloped roof. They then walked along a short path to a door at the side. “Come in,” Carla repeated. The group of six men and three women encouraged the trio to enter the home. Once inside, the foresters took their shoes off. They all sat down except Carla and Jay who waited for the others to settle.
The trio stood inside the doorway not quite knowing what to do. Carla looked at Tane and noticed the dried blood on her foot. She then glanced at one of the women who were sat down. “Jose, it would be nice if you could take Tane to wash and help tend to her feet.” The woman stood up and came to Tane, fussing over her and leading her through another door.
Jay spoke to Bula and Keller, “Come and sit down, we will get you washed up shortly, but you may as well have a drink of water.” He indicated a bench and they sat down like weary travellers. One of the other men brought over a wooden cup of water for each.