They left Laja and headed back to the house, but not before Clom grabbed another bag of crisps. They got to within twenty feet of the farmhouse and the vehicle was almost upon them, so to avoid being seen, they darted around the side of the building.
Clom spotted an open downstairs window and took off towards it. Joeum wasn’t far behind, but Clom had youth on his side and disappeared through the window before Joeum reached it.
Now inside, Clom could hear voices and went off to investigate and by the time Joeum was at the window, Clom had already moved through into another room.
Joeum suddenly heard Laja’s voice in his head. “They’re at the door,” and there was a knock.
Cautiously, Joeum steps into a hallway, but there is no sign of Clom and his attention is drawn to the voices of a man and woman, coming from behind a closed door.
Suddenly the door opens and Joeum darts back into the shadows and watches a man walk up to the front door. After few moments two armed men enter and pass the room Joeum is hiding in and stop at the foot of the stairs.
From where Joeum is standing he can’t see the top of the stairs, but he knows someone is there and he watches the two men cover their weapons. They say something and all the while, Joeum is trying to rationalise his next move, because he knows that his life will depend on his ability to bluff convincingly.
Joeum purposefully reveals himself, but not completely and it is his unseen half which is part of the bluff and he confronts the two strangers.
“Drop the weapons or I’ll drop you.”
This takes the two men completely by surprise. “I didn’t say turn round.” But the men keep turning and their guns are levelling and Joeum knows his bluff has failed.
In the confined space the guns make an impressive racket, punching holes in the plastered walls and shredding the door that Joeum has just ducked behind.
Up on the landing, Lim nearly has a heart attack when Clom emerges from a darkened room, grabs him and pulls him inside.
Back in the wood, Laja sees the flashes of gunfire and heads for the house. He makes a beeline for the window that Clom and Joeum entered by and without stopping, he launches himself through it. Laja arrives as the two armed men are entering the room and his dramatic appearance sees them adjust their focus from Joeum’s cowering form and they open fire on Laja. A shower of bullets hit Laja’s protective shield and are returned at full velocity, peppering the walls and the two men.
Laja watches the men hit the floor and confident they have been neutralised, he turns his attention to Joeum. Surprisingly, Joeum is unhurt and he rises from the floor and heads out of the room. Once in the hallway, he shouts up the stairs to Clom. Clom appears on the landing with Lim and together they descend the stairs.
Lim can’t quite read Joeum’s expression, a mix of anger and sadness with more than a dash of fear. He is staring at Lim unblinking and grabs him by the collar and forces him up against the wall. Joeum resists the urge to hit him and Lim knows how close he’s come. A moment or two pass and Joeum still hasn’t said anything, his grey eyes are just boring holes into him.
“Because of your stupidity, do you realise how close we came to being dead?” Joeum wasn’t expecting a response. “Try anything like this again and we’ll be leaving this place without you. Is that clear?”
Lim nodded as best he could with Joeum’s fist pushed up under his chin and Joeum finally releases him and tries to compose himself.
They can hear crying coming from the kitchen, it is Hilly and Joeum goes to investigate. Both Hilly and Frank are crouched in the corner, expecting the worst, but Joeum’s approach coaxes them both up off the floor and when Clom and Lim come through, they are all sitting around the kitchen table.
“Are they dead?” asked Frank.
“Yes, killed by their own weapons,” said Joeum.
Hilly was crying softly.
“Who were they?” asked Frank.
“You don’t know?”
“No, never seen them before. The security guy said he would send for the police to pick up your friend here.”
“Well, that clearly didn’t happen,” said Joeum. “And none of this would have happened had it not been for Lim,” Joeum glanced over at him. “It’s a damn mess, that’s what it is.”
“What do you want with us?” asked Frank.
“All we wanted were some answers.”
“Answers you say, I think it is you that should be answering a few questions. Is this normal behaviour where you come from?”
“Of course not.”
“Joeum is right, I’m to blame,” said Lim.
Joeum nodded. “We don’t want to cause you any more distress, we’re looking for a woman, her name is Miar?”
“As I said to your friend here. We haven’t had any visitors. Has she been missing long?”
This was a very good question and not easy to answer, since they had travelled the telepoint and time had probably been distorted. What had happened a few days ago on Vulsumar, could amount to a few weeks or even longer, here on Earth.
Laja had been listening from the doorway of the living room and was pleased that the situation had stabilised. He returned to the darkened room with the intention of clearing away the bodies, only to find they had disappeared, together with all evidence of their existence. An example of the sort of power the Formless Ones wield, in order to remain hidden.
The damaged inflicted upon the house was still evident, which included a window that had been shattered by a few stray bullets and Laja focused his attention on the broken glass. The glass was scattered across the living room carpet like an impossible jigsaw puzzle, but with the help of his musical flute, he would have the window back in one piece, in no time.
The glass shards vibrated to the frequency of sound that Laja was projecting and they slowly rose off the carpet.
Levitating objects was one of the most basic of Lumsulu exercises, the real challenge was to return all the pieces in the order in which they separated and this would involve the projection of two sounds at once. With one sound resonating, Laja adjusted his nasal passage and introduced a second. This had an instant effect on the broken glass and the shards flew back into place within the window frame. With the glass in its original position, Laja merged the two notes and the shattered pieces became a single pane of glass again.
Back in the kitchen, Frank was still waiting for an answer.
“I guess we were hoping she may have left us a clue,” said Lim.
“A clue?!” said Frank. “Is this some sort of game you’re playing?”
Joeum stepped in again. “We realise that you can’t help us and hope that you will be able to put this stressful experience behind you.”
“That’s easy for you to say. There aren’t two dead people lying in your front room,” said Hilly.
“We’ll try and put things back the way they were before we leave,” said Joeum.
“We want you to leave now and never return,” said Hilly.
Frank got up from the table and put his arm around Hilly. “Come on let’s get you upstairs where you can rest and I’ll bring you a nice hot drink up in a few minutes.”
Hilly didn’t need much persuading and Frank guided her out of the kitchen and up the stairs. After a short while, Frank returned to the kitchen and walked by Joeum, Clom, and Lim as if they weren’t there and put the kettle on.
“Unfortunately, Hilly doesn’t have the fortitude she once had,” Frank spoke while retrieving a mug from the cupboard and then stopped short of the fridge. “I was about to make Hilly a drink, but someone has helped themselves to what we had in here.”
Joeum looked over at Clom. “Go and get the bags.”
Clom didn’t need to be asked twice; he left the kitchen and ran out the front door. It took him a few minutes to locate the bags in the dark and return to the kitchen. Then he helped Frank put all the items back where they belonged.
Frank disappeared again with Hilly’s drink, giving them a few minut
es to discuss their options.
“Shouldn’t we be moving on,” said Clom. “Miar’s still out there somewhere.”
“First we have to be sure of what direction we’re heading,” said Joeum and he took the map from his pocket and spread it out on the kitchen table.
“Lim, could you go check on Laja.”
Lim passed Frank in the hall and made out he was heading for the toilet. When he returned to the kitchen, Frank had made them all a drink and everyone was sitting around the table looking at the map.
“I’ve made a drink up there for the fourth member of your group.”
Joeum glanced at Lim and Lim had to think quickly. “He’s a bit messed up from the fight. Would it be okay if he uses the bathroom and then he’ll come in?”
“I don’t have a problem with that. Tell him to help himself to whatever clothes he wants in the spare room.”
Under the circumstances, Frank had been particularly hospitable; he didn’t even bat an eyelid when a strange sound reverberated from the bathroom above the kitchen. All Frank said, was that he hoped it hadn’t woken Hilly.
Laja eventually appeared, entering the kitchen in a human form, wearing an almost identical check shirt to Frank’s. The trousers were a bit baggy and a belt helped sort this out.
“So you’re the leader of this bunch,” said Frank. “Do you want to explain why you are really here?”
Laja agreed to do his best and started by saying they had arrived from another planet. Talk about blow the guy’s mind. Frank remained composed and allowed Laja to continue.
“We are seeking a woman who is part of our group and her life could be in danger. We have assembled here to help the human race, but a dark force is trying to stop us. Understandable, if you consider that our success will mean the end of their reign,” Laja paused.
“The truth at last,” said Frank. “You need not tell me any more. I had to be sure you were the right people. I have met the woman you seek and she told me that you might come. She also said there might be others with a different agenda. I was sceptical. The men with the guns, are those the others she spoke of?”
“Yes, and there are many more like them and this is why we need to find Miar, before she comes to any harm.”
“I tried to talk her out of leaving, but she was worried for our safety and I can see why, now.”
“So where is she?” asked Lim.
“She didn’t tell us where she was going, but she used to spend a great deal of time on the coast. In the end, I lent her my boat and she took it out a few times and the last time she did so, was the last time I saw her. She said if you should come, I was to direct you to the church. Specifically the graveyard. She intended to leave something there for you.”
“At the church! Like the one we visited?” asked Clom.
Frank nodded and pointed in its general direction. “The one at the end of the track.” Frank reached into his trouser pocket. “Here, she gave me this.” Frank was holding a tiny key on a piece of red cord.
Lim took the key from Frank and studied it closely. “What do you think it’s for?”
“We’ll know soon enough,” said Laja.
Laja thought they best be leaving, for the same reason Miar had. To stay would only bring more danger to these people.
If they were insistent about leaving in the middle of the night, then Frank wanted to be sure they took some provisions with them and that included a change of clothes. There was a bin liner in the hall ready for the recycling and they were told to help themselves.
They kitted themselves out in some of Frank’s old clothes and boots, some a little oversized, but considerably better than the rags they had been wearing. While they were busy getting changed, Frank put some food, water, and torches in a backpack, which he handed to Laja.
It was cold out and Lim was thankful for the warm jumper he was wearing. He was having difficulty fathoming why Miar would up and leave and yet it was just like her to think of the safety of others before her own. What could she have possibly left them in the graveyard? Maybe a map to her whereabouts.
They bid Frank farewell and he stood under the porch light and watched the group disappear into the night. If he’d been a younger man, he would have offered to go with them; god knows they needed all the help they could get.
Chapter Six
Contingency
Before they teleported, Robin had homed in on Clom who was just coming round from being tranquillised. He had looked desperate to speak to someone, even though he had been told not to. Robin had assured him that if he let him take a look, no one would be any the wiser. Clom had relaxed and within a fraction of a second, Robin had extracted what was planned for them and here they were.
“Those damn Femesumma, where have they sent us?” asked Shou.
Robin stood still, slightly bemused.
“Robin, are you okay?” asked Mica.
“Yes, but something’s wrong.”
“You can say that again,” said Shou. “Where is everyone and where the hell are we?”
“We’re in the middle of a forest,” said Sie.
“I can see that,” said Shou.
Robin still hadn’t said very much and the absent look on his face suggested he was otherwise engaged. When he finally spoke, he wasn’t making a great deal of sense.
“We are actually in a desert,” said Robin.
“What!” said Sie.
“He’s right,” said Mica, suddenly able to see what Robin was seeing.
Shou and Sie looked at one another and wondered if the Ammarla were experiencing some sort of hallucination, maybe as a result of having been teleported here.
“We’re about half a mile from the edge of this forest, but it shouldn’t be here. Maybe I should take a look,” said Robin.
“Is this another of the Formless Ones illusions?” asked Shou, looking worried.
“No. The forest around us is very real and so is the desert beyond, but the two don’t belong together. Wait here and I will try and make sense of it.”
Robin sat down and in a blink of an eye, he was floating above the green canopy, which stretched off into the distance. He gained a bit of height and beyond the lush forest was nothing but sand. Why had this happened and who was responsible? Unable to answer either of these questions right now, he returned to his physical body.
“It’s hard to believe, but we’re standing in a forest that actually belongs on the south globe, not here in the deserts of the north.”
They had been worried about where they would end up, but the deserts of the north?
Being here meant nothing to Shou or Sie and now the Ammarla had some explaining to do. They came clean and admitted that this inhospitable place was the location of another human settlement.
Sie and Shou were both shocked and surprised.
“The survivors of the lost ships?” asked Sie.
Robin nodded.
“The Ammarla knew this all along, but kept it from us?” questioned Shou, still not believing it was true.
“Why?” asked Sie, her voice a mix of anger and sadness.
“Our silence kept the humans of the north safe from the Shamozolts and, of course, we now know it wasn’t just the Shamozolts we needed to be concerned about.”
“The Formless Ones,” said Shou.
“Yes and those being controlled by them, like Shemo.”
“So you’ve been in contact with these people?” asked Sie.
“We nurtured them as we nurtured you.”
“Our being here must mean they’re in danger,” said Shou.
“They have never been out of danger and although they are of upmost importance, we are here to focus our efforts on helping the messenger.”
“Why is the messenger here?” asked Sie.
“David has been sent to seek out the Hidden Ones.”
“The Hidden Ones? We’ve heard mention of them before,” said Shou.
“Yes, the Hidden Ones are the Whisperlings counterparts,�
� said Robin.
“So how did David get here?” asked Sie.
“With Miar’s help.”
“But Miar was lost on Vulsumar?”
“That’s what was initially thought, but as it turns out, she was actually redirected to Earth. It was deliberate, to confuse the Formless Ones.”
“Is Miar here with David?” asked Shou.
“Apparently not. She is still on Earth and since her actions have drawn the attention of the Formless Ones, the others have gone to assist her.”
“I don’t get it. The Femesumma were calling the shots back on Vulsumar, so how did we manage to get to where we needed to be?”
“The Femesumma weren’t actually in control of the telepoint, it just looked that way. Huey took control and made it happen.”
“How did he manage that?” asked Sie.
“With Clom’s help.”
“Those two working together! I’m not sure what sounds more believable,” said Shou.
“As unbelievable as it sounds. That’s how we got here.”
“This place is a world away from Earth, how will David be coping?” asked Sie
“He won’t survive for long in this environment and that’s why we must find him and quickly,” said Robin.
“How will the messenger’s presence affect the people living here?” asked Shou.
“The details are in the hands of the Harmonic Ones and the humans of the north will no doubt have their part to play.”
“We should get moving,” said Mica. “Who knows what arrived here with this forest and I don’t want to be walking through it come nightfall.”
Mica was right, it was time to leave, but it was soon apparent that leaving the forest was going to be easier said than done. Everything was slowly dying around them and recently fallen trees had created an assault course from hell. They weren’t the only ones trying to escape the chaos. There were animals moving with them, which for the moment had lost their inhibitions and some were almost close enough to touch.
They knew that everything around them had once been part of a forest on the south globe and Mica had been studying the flora and had narrowed it down to Corzamala.
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