by Helen Allan
“I will. I’ll go now, but we can stay in touch via the pod. We will fly it back tomorrow.”
“Love you, honey.”
“Love you too, bye.”
Sorrow blew a kiss and watched her mother catch it and place it on her cheek, before disconnecting and sitting for a minute, staring at the blank screen. Could she trust Khalili? She just didn’t know, her gut told her yes, but her gut wasn’t what she had relied on to keep her alive over the past few months, it was her head. Her head told her to be careful, and it told her not to share with her mother the details of her relationship with the Sin leader. She frowned and chewed a nail. Was she just embarrassed to have had sex with him? Or was it more than that? Still frowning she left the pod in search of the Sin.
The following day, after much of the morning had been spent leading the young tribe leader through the maze of tunnels in the cave and allowing him time to read the texts, the three parted company.
The youth, his face clearly troubled, was to walk back to his tribe and, if possible, bring his council leaders to the caves to read the texts for themselves. Khalili and Sorrow would fly the pod back to the castle, although Khalili was extremely reluctant to get into the vehicle and angry that he had no choice.
Despite these tensions, Sorrow felt the kidnap mission had been a success. The boy had eaten goat in the stew, and enjoyed it, and had gasped when he had read the texts, asking question after question of she and Khalili and clearly considering what he had learned. She just hoped the time they had spent with him had been enough and he was not pretending his agreement in order to be released. Either way, they had held firm to their deal and allowed him to leave.
Now alone, she wandered the tunnels and re-read the texts her mother and Khalili had discovered so many years before by torchlight. The soft limestone of the cave walls showed rows and rows of hieroglyphs, preserved for centuries in the dry, warm cave environment. Although she already knew the story, she felt a deep sadness reading the hieroglyphs for herself, imagining the ache of those who had painstakingly inscribed it into the cave walls.
‘In the beginning, there was peace for our kind, on this, our planet, Heaven. We loved the trees; we ate not of the flesh, we birthed our babies, one heart.
Low, behold sadness, the Great Ones came from the sky. Tall, hairless, smarter than all, two-hearted. They took the women and killed the men; we knew nothing of battle, we were weak.
And the babies came, left in the forest, for us to collect, not all, some. They called them The Original Sin. Larger, hungrier, smarter, two-hearted. Only meat would suffice. Still, we raised them and loved them. We hunted the land to feed the Originals. All animals large and small were slaughtered until the land was bereft of life, and we knew the pain of seeing our strange new children hunger.
And so we became the food. Those who willed it so gave their lives, those who did not, one-heart, hid in the mountains, hunted, always hunted, by Original Sin.
Until one great leader arose from these babes, larger, hungrier, smarter, two-hearted, and dared to hunt the Great Ones.
Large they were, smarter than all, but unused to battle.
Feasting began again; our kind was no longer taken, babies no longer were left in the woods, but born to our own, we became The Sin; still larger, hungrier, smarter, two-hearted.
Our kind learned to hunt the Great Ones, and there was war on Heaven between ours and theirs. Death rained down from above to those we had held to our breasts. Death snuck up on the Great Ones from within and without.
Until the Great Ones left, and in their stead, new arrivals, the Earthborn.
Hairless, tall, smartest of ALL, two-hearted, they brought with them new meat. Small, hairless, hardy, one-hearted, Humans. Their women were taken, their men were weak. No babes returned.
The wise one-hearted in the mountains told The Sin, to remember their past. But all was lost.
Feasting began on the one-hearted Humans.
But one day shall rise again from The Sin one larger, hungrier and smarter, who shall remember our past, unite with the humans, destroy the Earthborn, and reclaim Heaven.’
As she read, she heard the soft foot-steps of Khalili as he approached but did not look up.
“Do you think he will join us at the castle,” she asked, still perusing the wall carvings.
“No,” he said, his voice deep.
Sorrow glanced up and looked into his eyes. They were unreadable, as usual, but his body language was not. Gripped by an overwhelming animal desire to have him, once more take her, she sighed and dropped the torch to the ground. Closing the distance between them and pressing her body to his she reached up and grabbed the hair at the back of his neck to pull his face towards her, to kiss him, but he pulled back sharply.
For a second she thought she saw surprise in his eyes before he growled and spun her to face the rock wall. She was not so shocked this time as his fangs sunk into her neck and he pushed her dress up over her hips. And she was ready for him as he took her, once more from behind, forcefully. This time, her pace matched his, as she arched into his thrusts and let herself go, screaming and shuddering to a climax before he did. She was not surprised when, after his growling release, he withdrew and stalked away without a word.
Left alone in the tunnels, she picked up her torch and, catching her breath, continued to read the texts for some time, smiling.
Clearly uncomfortable with the flight, Khalili exited the pod the moment Sorrow landed and walked away without a backward glance.
‘Huh. I guess no kisses goodbye,’ she thought ruefully, watching him force his way through the crowd of children surrounding the pod. The flight had only taken an hour and a half, but no words had been exchanged during that time. Sorrow, however, kept smiling. It may not be love, it may not even be friendship, but whatever it was, it had felt good, and she in some strange way, felt that it had freed her, if not completely, certainly a great way, from Anhur, previously the only man she had ever been with. Her heart hurt a little less, although her neck stung painfully.
As she walked down the gangplank, she could see Etienne forcing his way through the small children to get to her.
“At last,” he smiled, taking her hands and kissing her on both cheeks.
“Has everything been OK since I’ve been gone?” Sorrow frowned, stepping back from him and looking around, “no attacks?”
“We have much to speak of,” Etienne said quietly, “but I have someone I want you to meet.”
Sorrow nodded and followed him to the castle, noting as she walked that building had progressed even in the week or so she had been gone, the walls extended, more rooms attached and more apartments in progress.
Entering the hall, she was greeted by Joella and Newto, and a tall stranger with an open face and friendly smile.
“Sorrow,” Etienne said, walking up to the stranger, “this is John. He is a fighter pilot from America. He has only been on Heaven for three years.”
“Modern?” Sorrow asked, turning to shake John’s hand.
“2016 I was kidnapped Ma’am,” the man said in a strong Southern accent. “Whisked away by aliens while taking part in defence exercises over Libya. Been here ever since.”
“Well, I’m glad to meet you,” Sorrow said smiling, “it seems you have made an impression on Etienne.”
“Of course he has, ma coeur,” Etienne said shaking his head, “John can learn to fly the pod. We don’t have to risk you flying us back to the Capital to steal food.”
“Ah,” Sorrow shook her head, “Etienne, this pod is not like flying a plane. It took me a few weeks to learn how to fly it properly.”
“Ma’am,” John said, “I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but there ain’t a thing in the sky that I can’t fly.”
Sorrow laughed, half at his accent, half at his words.
“OK John,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m going to have a bath, get dressed, sleep the sleep of the dead. But when I wake up, I’ll call for you; we wil
l start flying lessons.”
John nodded, his eyes appraising her as she turned to make her way to her room. She had a lot to think about. The upcoming food raid, the information her mother had learned about Seth; but Etienne was not about to let her go so quickly.
“Get in your bath, ma belle,” he said as she walked away, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Sorrow sighed, “OK,” and kept walking, but it was almost an hour later after she was well and truly soaked and relaxed that the Frenchman entered the bathhouse.
“So,” Sorrow smirked, “did you come to see my tits or actually tell me something?”
“Both of course,” he grinned, “but mainly I came to talk to you while no one else is present. We had a visit from Anhur while you were gone.”
Sorrow gasped, her face blanching despite the warmth of the steaming water she sat in.
“Calm, calm,” Etienne said, raising his hands and lowering them as though he were trying to soothe a wild horse.
“There is some good news, some bad of course, but I think the good outweighs the bad.”
Sorrow let out a huge breath in exasperation.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake Etienne, spit it out.”
“Ok yes, sorry, I forget you are tired. Here,” he drew something out from his pocket, “this is for you.”
Sorrow gasped.
“Where? Where did you get this?”
“It was left, along with a note, from a friend of yours from the Capital who came with Anhur. He wanted you to know he had been sent by your mother, and was, in any way your required, an ally in the Capital.”
Sorrow stroked the brass plaque Etienne had given her, running her hands over the worlds ‘Dr Sorrow Price’ and felt tears spring to her eyes.
“Mum had this made for me the day I was kidnapped by Amun. When we were in Australia,” she said quietly. “I left it for her at the gates when he forced me through to Heaven, to show her where I had gone. I never knew if she found it or not.”
“Well she did,” Etienne said quietly, “and she gave it to a man named Aha so that he could prove to you he was your friend.”
“Aha?” Sorrow frowned, “Persinya’s son with Amun?”
“Yes,” Etienne said, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in near her bath. “that makes him also your half-brother, and really, the closest thing you have to a real brother. His mother and yours were very firm friends.”
“I know,” Sorrow said softly, “but to have given this to him Mum must have travelled back in time to when he was Pharaoh. So, he must have had this plaque with him for thousands of years, since he first came to Heaven. How did he know to bring it to me now?”
Etienne sighed.
“Your mother and her time travelling,” he smirked, “it makes no sense to me, backwards, forwards, what is was, what wasn’t isn’t. Don’t ask me to explain anything. But, Aha asked me to tell you to call him as soon as you returned with the pod.”
“I can’t,” Sorrow said, “it isn’t secure, I’d be risking his life.”
“No,” Etienne laughed, “that was the other piece of good news. Anhur is, as you and your mother would say, ‘spewing’ that his pod, the one you stole, is on a secret frequency setting. Any messages you send or receive cannot be intercepted.”
“Ha,” Sorrow laughed, splashing her feet in delight, “excellent news.”
“And now for the bad,” Etienne said, “while you are still breathing normally - Anhur took the Sin.”
“What?” Sorrow’s voice rose an octave.
“Yes, he did not find you, or I, but he did not believe Joella and Newto that the Sin were here as willing workers on our town wall. He took them for his games. Every man, woman and child.”
“Oh Jeezus,” Sorrow said, her voice coming out a moan, “What will Khalili say? He will think I have betrayed the last vestiges of his tribe. He will kill me.”
“Yes, there is that,” Etienne said, his voice sombre, “I suggest we call a town meeting immediately and plot a way forward, as soon as you get out of the bath and put that call into Aha.”
Sorrow took a breath and submerged her head slowly under the water. She stayed under there for as long as she could. When she rose, Etienne was gone.
10
The day of the raid on the Capital had been brought forward in line with advice from Aha.
The search for a sustainable food source for the bailey and its burgeoning populace was to be two-pronged. Riders had been sent to the far reaches of the plains to spread the word about the castle. They were to invite all those who wished to journey to the fortress to join the resistance against the Earthborn - and to see if food, sent weekly from the farms to the Earthborn cities, could be diverted from the Capital to the castle town.
The ideas that Sorrow had for a united front between Sin, Human and Earthborn had been shelved with the kidnapping of Khalili’s tribe and the rest of the Sin who had worked on the wall. But Sorrow still held out hope. The fact that Khalili was still here, was still willing to work with humans to get his tribe back, had to stand for something. And every day more humans arrived at what they considered a haven for humans, away from the Sin, and away from slavery to the Earthborn – a move Sorrow also felt was a good first step.
While the riders went in one direction, another group was going in the opposite.
Khalili, the pod, Etienne and a small contingent of human men and women were to raid the capital under cover of darkness for tents, arms, medicines and the Sin captured by Anhur. They would leave first thing in the morning.
The initial plan to steal food had been changed with news from Aha that war was afoot. Messages from other planets had flooded in, the opening of the portal would signal an attack from Seth – although in what form they had no idea. Many were taking the warning seriously, although equally as many refused to listen, having spent every year for the past decade preparing for an assault that never came.
Sorrow though was taking no chances; she knew getting access to modern weapons and medicines would be by far more useful than food at this stage. And if the riders heading out across the plains were successful, food would come to the castle town from another direction in any case.
But this change of plans did not in any way lessen the hazard associated with the planned raid on the Capital. All those involved in the incursion on the city knew the chances of them returning were slim. They also knew that the theft would signal a turning point in Earthborn and human relations on this planet – what was currently guerrilla warfare, rumoured insurgency, was about to become real – the ramifications of which were not yet fully understood.
The fact that this raid would occur so close to the gates opening was, Sorrow thought, both a blessing and a curse. She hoped Anhur was so busy preparing for a war with Seth that he would not pursue her people escaping the Capital. But she also knew that a decision would need to be made, and soon, about whether she would jump to Earth, or stay and continue to lead the revolution on Heaven. In her heart of hearts, she had already determined she would remain.
Now, laying in her bed in the castle she looked at the timber ceiling – there was no point trying to close her eyes, she couldn’t sleep. There was a chance Khalili and her best friend, Etienne, would be killed on the raid today. But they had prepared all they could, and with The Games scheduled for two days hence and the portals due to open a few days after that, they could wait no longer.
She snorted when she thought of The Games. It was typical of Anhur and the ruling class to continue their traditions, even as war loomed on their doorstep. He was either monumentally confident in his ability to defeat whatever Seth threw at them or also in half minds about whether an attack would happen. Either that or he and the others he ruled with wanted to distract the populace from its imminent doom for other reasons – she had no way of knowing. More and more she realised she understood very little of the ways of Heaven’s Earthborn – far less than she thought she knew.
Rising she walked t
o the fireplace and threw another log onto the smouldering cinders. The castle rooms were easy enough to heat when they were small, but hers was quite large, big enough to encompass a table in one corner, currently covered in maps, her bed, some chairs around the fire and a screened off toilet. This was luxury by most people’s standards in this part of Heaven – rudimentary to Earthborn living a virtually modern existence in the Capital.
She would miss the castle. She knew that after the raid, she and any survivors who took part in it would have to move into tents in the forest, to separate themselves from the township if those living inside its walls were to escape the retribution of the Earthborn. Aha would ensure Anhur and the Earthborn were led to believe a group of guerrilla fighters was responsible, not the newly walled town.
Since her return from the mountains, she had been in contact regularly with Aha to try and plot the rescue of the captured Sin and coordinate the raid for weapons. She had spent the intervening days gathering together a small army of humans and training her pilot, John, on the use of the pod. He was, as he had said, a quick study and took to it like a natural.
Standing nude in front of the fire, she warmed her hands and replayed her last conversation with Aha.
As she had suspected, he had been contacted by her mother in ancient Egypt, 3000 BC, when he had just come into his third rejuvenated reign as pharaoh, living under the name Udimi. By that stage he was starting to question the role of the Gods in his country.
Megan could not have picked a better time to sway him to the side of humans. Telling him of his conception, how Amun had impregnated his mother against her will, knowing she would die in childbirth. Megan offered him a deal; support her daughter on Heaven and she would travel back in time and ensure Persinya survived his birth.
Sorrow knew this was no hardship on her mother’s part, she and Persinya were close, and she had mourned when she heard of her death, but Aha did not know this, and eagerly agreed to the deal.