Alliance

by Andrew Stride

  It was working and Laja watched as hundreds of Ohzits followed Huey down the tube. His light fading rapidly.

  Laja had been holding the valve of the sub-tube open a crack, so he knew when it was safe to emerge. Seeing that the coast was clear, he forced the valve open and stepped out into the main tube. Without Huey, it was very dark, but Laja was sensitive enough to cope without the need of a light and was sure he could take out a stray Ohzit or two, if necessary.

  He reached the first of a succession of valves that would take him into the birthing chamber. He knew the procedure and checking for Ohzits, he eased himself through.

  He made it to the third valve and encountered a problem. The valve was sealed incredibly tight, so tight that Laja couldn’t force his way through. A result perhaps of the heart attack the Manui had suffered and Laja was going to have to wait for it to open naturally and that would only happen once the water level rose.

  While he stood there he wondered how Huey was getting on. He might still need him if this valve didn’t open.

  The water was above Laja’s waist before he was pushed through with a rush of water and the valve sealed behind him. This happened several times and in the last section, Laja found himself having to swim, in order to keep his head above water. Finally, the last valve opened and Laja was washed out with the water and fell into what he hoped was the birthing chamber.

  Laja hit the water with an almighty splash. Clom had been right, this wasn’t so different from their experience in the sewer of Omzimza and Laja was treading water while trying to get a feel for the direction he should be heading.

  Over the sound of running water, the chamber echoed with the moans and groans of the Manui and Laja imagined this animal was aware it had an intruder in its system. A fact that would bring the Ohzits back in their hordes, so he needed to get moving.

  Once the Manui was fertilised, the chamber Laja was swimming through would split into two parts. Fortunately, this hadn't happened yet, so there was no worry about being on the wrong side of the chamber. He still had a bit of a swim ahead of him, as the chamber was a little over a quarter of a mile in diameter and the sphere was somewhere near its centre.

  Since there was no light in here, Laja was being guided towards the obsidian sphere by vibrations in the water, which were getting stronger, so he knew he was heading in the right direction.

  Then quite unexpectedly a light appeared way above him, which at first he thought was occurring naturally, but then he realised it was Huey and Laja wondered what this could mean.

  Huey descended rapidly, bringing with him light and understanding to the chamber, but that wasn’t all, because just behind him were hundreds, maybe thousands of Ohzits and Laja wondered how this could have happened. It was pretty obvious to Laja that he wasn’t going to make it to the sphere before the Ohzits were upon him, since they were already dropping into the water.

  The presence of the Ohzits sent shockwaves through the water, equivalent to an electric current, which caused Laja’s body to spasm and made it impossible for him to continue. He could do nothing to stop himself slipping beneath the surface of the water and for the first time in his life, he believed it was all over.

  The bright light that suddenly lit up above his head added weight to the suggestion that it was time to leave this world, but all was not lost, as this light had nothing to do with him crossing over to the spirit realm.

  The next thing Laja was aware of was a firm hand on his shoulder and he was pulled to the surface, where he took an unexpected breath. Laja had the look of disbelief on his face, seeing Huey’s two glowing eyes staring down at him and yet here he was and he had very likely just saved his life.

  The shockwaves in the water quickly subsided and despite Laja’s body tingling all over, he was otherwise fine and started to wonder how they had miraculously overcome the onslaught. It seemed an unlikely outcome and it was, because the water around them was still teeming with Ohzits.

  There was no reason for concern, as Huey had managed to communicate their intentions to the Ohzits and they no longer considered them a threat. How had he managed this? Laja would have thought it impossible, but Huey reminded him that the Harmonic Ones were working through him and even more remarkably, the Ohzits were now offering to help them.

  Laja’s body had recovered sufficiently for him to swim unaided, allowing Huey to resume his work with the Ohzits. Huey drifted out over the water to the sound of excited chirping and Laja was mesmerised by the incredible sight of thousands of Ohzits following his light.

  They were heading towards the black obsidian sphere and Laja followed at a safe distance for fear of breaking the spell. The sphere towered over them and Huey rose up off the water, following its contour, while the Ohzits formed a ring in the water around its base. If that had been the end of the show, then it would have been impressive enough, but no, there was more to come.

  The Ohzits were leaving the water and moving slowly up the obsidian sphere and there were so many of them that their bodies had begun to cover its surface.

  Laja watched in disbelief as the Ohzits organised themselves to create a pattern that repeated itself, over and over. Each of their tentacles touched so when the Ohzits were finished, it looked like the sphere was covered in a steel net or mesh.

  Throughout the exercise the Ohzits continued their chirping, perhaps they were happy in their work or more likely, it was their way of keeping order. When they were done, they quietened down and there was barely a murmur from them now.

  During the formation of this mesh-like structure, Huey had been orbiting the sphere as if he was doing some sort of quality check and apparently satisfied, he drifted back over to Laja and they approached the sphere together.

  Having been educated to the significance of the sphere, the Ohzits were able to see it for what it was. Their combined efforts would unlock its secrets and like a crystal ball, they could look into it and see what the Formless Ones had been hiding. To activate this process, all Huey had to do was touch one of the Ohzits. This set off a chain reaction and like a touch-paper, the Ohzits lit up across the sphere until every one of them was glowing.

  The obsidian sphere had remained unresponsive, but it too had begun to glow and quickly outshone the Ohzits.

  They had found a way into the network and a flood of information swept over them. This information confirmed a couple of things, the sphere was indeed one of many and every sphere in the network was inside a Manui. The Manui, rather than an adapted life form, had actually been manufactured for the job, which perhaps wasn’t all that surprising.

  The sphere had been activated and all they had to do was step into it. Once inside the network, they would be transported to the planet’s lower atmosphere and a step closer to finding the humans. Finding the humans was one thing, freeing them and getting them back through the portal would be another and by now the Formless Ones could have brought thousands of people to this dimension.

  Laja had the distinct impression that his way with sound was going to come in handy where they were headed, but the RDU that had got them this far, might not fare so well. This and other information was coming to them and Laja was sure that some of it was being filtered off by the Ohzits for their own personal interests.

  Feelings of despair and hopelessness washed over them, accompanied by images of a desolate landscape and Laja recalled the last time they’d encountered an environment controlled by the Formless Ones, back on Vulsumar. He couldn’t say he was looking forward to a repeat of that experience.

  Huey and Laja prepared themselves as best they could; however, the Ohzits wanted something in return. Wasn’t there always a catch. This was how life had evolved here, by sharing and if this was the only way in, then they had little choice, but to comply.

  The trade would happen automatically, as Laja and Huey entered the network. They would be trading life-force, which in these parts was quite normal. The coexistence of species on this planet meant that those willing to share
would stand a better chance of survival.

  They were ready, so Laja and Huey moved through the wall of Ohzits and into the sphere. By doing so, they found out that the Ohzits were actually two animals that had taken this trade at some point in their evolution and then decided to join physically. They had been joined together for so long that they could not exist independently.

  The trade was instant, as too was the transition and knowing a little about the environment they were about to enter, Laja held onto Huey in preparation.

  One word would describe what they saw and that was hellish. Through the cloud below their position was a tortured landscape. Twisted and blacked as a result of having been melted and re-melted countless times, with puddles of bright orange molten rock dotted across it.

  They were still several miles above the ground and those puddles were actually the size of lakes. The heat down there was going to be extreme, so it was just as well that Laja and Huey had their own methods of shielding themselves from the worst of it.

  Their emergence had not gone unnoticed, they were being closely monitored and what started out as a straightforward descent was quickly turning into a disaster. They’d only just got here and something was having an adverse effect on Huey’s systems and he knew he was quickly reaching his limits.

  A system failure now would be catastrophic. Laja may have mastered many things, but flying wasn’t one of them.

  During their descent, they had both noticed objects floating through the clouds and with the last of Huey’s power he was making his way to the closest of these. As they closed in on its position, Laja could feel Huey faltering and they were coming in fast.

  With what little reserves Huey had left, he slowed their approach on what looked like a battered lump of black glass. How it was actually defying gravity was anyone’s guess and landing here was not a solution, but it was the best Huey could do with what little time he had left.

  They touched down on the strange pitted surface and Laja was relieved to feel something solid underfoot. Getting them here had depleted Huey’s power and he immediately fell over onto his side as a result. Laja rushed over to him to see what he could do. The blue light was fading from Huey’s eyes and it seemed that every bit of his energy was being directed into his left hand, which he was holding out to Laja.

  Laja was powerless to do anything, as he watched the light drain from Huey’s body and then something amazing happened. A blue orb rose from the palm of Huey’s hand and hovered there for a few moments before drifting towards Laja. Laja instinctively opened his hand to receive the orb and it was absorbed into his palm.

  Huey had given everything of himself so that Laja had a chance to see this battle through to the end and that meant passing over the essence of the Harmonic Ones so that they could see with his eyes, a place where they themselves were forbidden. The result of this transfer opened Laja’s eyes to the fact that the messenger was here and he immediately jumped to the conclusion that all was lost, but was it?

  There had to be hope, otherwise, he wouldn’t be here, although he was unlikely to play any further part in this fight, unless he could find a way off this lump of glass.

  With time on his hands, Laja had been to the edge and looked over at the land below and if the humans were down there somewhere, then how was he meant to help them?

  There were many similar pieces of glass floating through the atmosphere, so what made this one special? There was clearly something special about all of them, since they were all defying gravity.

  Looking closely at the glass-like structure beneath his feet, Laja could see many pockets of empty space and these pockets might contain gas that was lighter than air, which could have been what was keeping it airborne. If Laja was somehow able to release the gas, then maybe he could get this lump of glass on the ground. It sounded a crazy idea and he looked solemnly over at Huey’s empty shell and then at his palm where the orb had entered his body. As desperate as the situation looked, there had to be a way and he searched his mind for an answer.

  Laja had even contemplated leaping off. Of course, if he fell to his death, which was highly likely, all Huey’s efforts would have been in vain and him lying there staring blankly back at him, was a constant reminder of this.

  While weighing up his options, Laja had seen countless objects entering this place, like falling stars. He also noticed that their trajectory changed over time as if they were being drawn to a moving target. He had an idea what these falling stars might be, but he hoped he was wrong.

  Apart from the light show, he had seen something drifting in and out of the clouds directly across from his position and couldn’t really make out its composition, but he knew it wasn’t just another chunk of glass. There was more to it than that because he was detecting intelligence and whatever it was, it had been watching him too. Laja was confident that if it had been anything to do with the Formless Ones, it would have surely attacked him by now and this gave him hope.

  The idea that something would actually want to live in such an environment, might at first seem a bit odd, but like any living thing caught up in circumstances that it had no control over, it probably didn’t have a choice.

  Laja had been playing it cool, pretending he hadn’t seen it and yet every time he began thinking about it, there would be a noticeable change to its surface texture, which was interesting and suggested this life form was capable of picking up his thoughts. Intelligence or not, it might be waiting for Laja to expire, so it could come and gnaw on his bones.

  A few minutes passed and it was clear that the life form was getting curious, as it scanned him. It was the sort of scan a higher intelligence would use and Laja was optimistic. It might mean that this life form was interested in a two-way conversation rather than making a meal out of him. Intelligent or not, it could still be hungry, so he would stay on his toes, just in case.

  Seeing any detail on this thing was a challenge, due to the effects of The Divide and its influence on the light in Ruma’s lower atmosphere. Everything lacked contrast, which resulted in undefined shadows, making distant objects appear one dimensional.

  The size of this life form was also hard to determine, but Laja was sure it was getting closer.

  Knowing how long he had been sat here, Laja was tempted to make the first move. A situation not dissimilar from two strangers in a bar. Someone had to stick their neck out; otherwise, this was going to be a wasted evening. Politeness was one thing, but this had been going on long enough.

  Laja stood up slowly, he didn’t want to scare the thing off and after a few moments of reflection, he turned to look at it directly, so it could see that he was fully aware of its presence. As expected, the life form reacted, but not in a way Laja imagined it might. So what had he expected it to do, wave at him? The life form actually changed shape and behaved less like a single object and more like a flock of birds or perhaps a shoal of fish. It was confusing to look at and that may have been intentional.

  Laja stood his ground, showing that he was unfazed by what he saw and slowly but surely the life form headed his way. The swarm of objects shifted elegantly and Laja felt himself momentarily transfixed by their hypnotic movements. The shapes it was making were so fluid and effortlessly executed that they appeared to melt into one another.

  “So what are you exactly?” Laja whispered to himself.

  Had this vocalisation slipped from Laja’s lips unintentionally or was he testing its sensitivity? A flicker of a smile suggested the latter and the impact of his words touched the objects and the result was like watching raindrops hitting parched earth after a prolonged drought.

  He should be careful of course, his experimenting could attract the wrong kind of attention and this thought led him to take his eyes off the object and scan the cloudscape for anomalies. The problem with this environment was that there were so many anomalies, which he knew could conceal a visit from the Formless Ones.

  His focus had only left the objects for a few seconds and yet in th
at time they had halved their distance to him. Laja would definitely call that progress. Despite looking like many objects, Laja was convinced that this was one entity because it displayed such unity. Either that or it was a hive mind.

  As the entity drew nearer, it was possible to see its many parts a little clearer, which were constantly changing in size and shape and appeared to be made of some sort of molten alloy. The idea that it could have a body of such complexity was not so unbelievable, as Laja had seen his fair share of the fantastic.

  Laja could see how easily this life form was able to induce a receptive and compliant state and he kept glancing away for fear of losing control.

  As threatening as it felt to lose control, this was one of the ways it interacted with other lifeforms, but for those unaccustomed with this method, it felt like one was being set up and made vulnerable for an attack.

  The entity had almost committed itself, but like Laja, it too was being cautious and remained hovering near the far end of the lump of glass, quietly assessing the situation.

  Laja imagined this thing could take the shape of practically anything and was just thinking this, when the flow of objects changed direction and he was now looking at a shimmering mirror image of himself.

  Impressive thought Laja and after holding his image for a few moments, the entity returned to its normal display of shifting objects. Clearly capable of reading Laja’s thoughts, he wondered if he should attempt to ask it something or would this be considered, rushing things? It was his call and he suddenly felt compelled to say something. It then occurred to him that this might actually be a suggestion directed at him by the entity, which was exactly what it was.

  “Help me.” Laja thought he’d be honest and there was sincerity in his voice.

  The entity was still with him, so he hadn’t frightened it off and Laja began hearing something like a whisper. At first, he thought he was imagining it, but no, the entity had sent a reply to his request.