by Helen Allan
“We are, to coin your frequently used phrase; fucked,” Etienne sighed, “any which way you look at it.”
“Unless the Gharials are stupid,” Sorrow mused, “if they lack intelligence, we might have a chance. Earthborn and humans are no laggards when it comes to coming up with ideas. These lizards might have a leader, or they might just have an overall charge to come and kill – perhaps we might have a chance if this is the case.”
“I hope you are right,” Etienne murmured, seeing the trees light up from the flash of an explosion heralding from the direction they marched towards, “but I don’t think so. We both saw they were being directed by leaders dressed in red. I couldn’t be sure, but John and I thought they looked more like Earthborn than Gharials. They are obviously coordinating the attack. Ma cherie, I counsel you, jump into the portal, go back to Earth, leave these creatures to their own devices.”
“No Etienne,” Sorrow shook her head, “I won’t do that unless I have absolutely no other option. I am a healer; I have to believe I was sent to this planet for a reason, to heal the rift between the races, to right the wrongs my father and his ilk did. And you know Aha told me Osiris was still on this planet, he said Anhur had a group planning to overthrow the God. If there are Gods here, there must be some kind of planetary defence system in place – they spent thousands of years travelling the universes and conquering planets. I can’t believe they have no way of defending themselves.”
“Ma biquette, Amun and Amaunet did not expect you to attack them and cut off their heads, and they had been ruling Earth for thousands of years – these Gods, as they call themselves, have become as complacent as their Earthborn heirs. I imagine now would be the perfect time for your blood-thirsty husband to undertake his coup, just as the planet is attacked – I wouldn’t be counting on the Gods riding in like the cavalry and saving the day.”
Sorrow frowned.
“You are right, Etienne, if I was Anhur, I would strike now, while Osiris had his attention diverted to the larger crisis. But I don’t think my husband is Machiavellian enough to think like this. I’ve never known him to be so.”
Etienne said nothing, simply began to speed up once again, but his silence spoke volumes. Sorrow matched his pace as they jogged, but they both ground to a halt as they came face to face with a long line of Gharials.
Shouting a warning to those behind her, she dropped to her knees to fire at the oncoming column.
Etienne followed her lead, but the Sin, screaming war cries, ran straight at the lizards, jumping over the bodies of their tribesmen as they fell to the lasers and reaching the enemy in a crushing tide of black against green.
Sorrow rose and ran forward just as a contingent of human fighters reached her back, and together they swarmed the creatures.
She sprayed the bandage onto the boy’s wound and patted him on the shoulder. The liquid hardened into an immediate impermeable and instant fabric barrier, supporting the wound, disinfecting and stopping bleeding all at once. It was one of the few Earthborn medicines she found invaluable when dealing with injuries such as these. Most of the other drugs alleviated from the Capital during the raid led by John and Khalili were essentially the same as those found on Earth – but this spray was unusual and light years ahead of anything humans had yet to invent.
“Stay at the rear of the lines when we reach the gates tomorrow,” she said gently, putting the canister back into her pack, “you will have trouble using your bow until the wound in your chest heals – but you can help mop up behind the first wave of fighters.”
The boy nodded and moved off to re-join his group of humans huddled around a small campfire a few hundred metres away. Sorrow watched him go, concern written all over her face. There were not enough modern weapons to go around, many of her small army had spears, bows and arrows. The humans were quick to adopt new weaponry, but the Sin favoured their swords, despite seeing their comrades mowed down by the lasers used by the Gharials. Khalili had been trying to convince some of them to learn how to use the guns, but so far, he had not led by example, which, Sorrow believed, was part of the problem. They were too set in their ways, too conservative and unaccepting of change. She feared it would be the death of them all.
She grimaced as she looked around the campfires, just one more example of this intractable attitude to change – the Sin and the humans all sat around different fires, none mingled, despite the necessity for fighting together as a cohesive force. She sighed and shook her head, turning to smile as Khalili crouched down beside her, warming his hands on the flames of her small fire.
“We rest for an hour or two, no more,” he grunted, not looking at her.
“Yes. Any more than that and we won’t reach the gates in time,” she agreed, studying his profile, his tusks appearing even more prominent as the firelight reflected off them. “Etienne tells me you left Han behind after all.”
Khalili did not acknowledge her, and she continued. “You made the right decision. He and Jess will be the future of this world.”
“Speak not to me of this human girl,” Khalili growled, “I left him because I know his mate will die in childbirth. He should be there to witness his mistake. His next wife, a Sin wife, will be the future of this planet.”
Sorrow shook her head and smiled ruefully.
“You sound exactly like Newto. He and Joella hate the fact their daughter is in love with Han. But, Khalili, it is love, humanity, caring for each other – these are attributes the Sin will benefit most from, as will Earthborn if we can all live in harmony.”
“We?” Khalili snorted, “You will not be here to see how this planet survives.”
“You’re wrong,” Sorrow whispered, catching his eye as he looked up at her, “I plan to stay, Khalili, I want to help shape this planet, to right the wrongs. I’m not going to jump through the gates tomorrow.”
He narrowed his eyes at her.
“Why?”
“Because I believe I was sent here for a reason. I believe my purpose, as a doctor, as a healer, is to fix the wounds between the races on this world – to see Earthborn, human and Sin live in harmony.”
“There can be no harmony,” Khalili growled, rising from his squatting position and towering over her, “only truce. The Earthborn have ever been our enemies.”
“You and I are not enemies,” Sorrow said, looking up at his face, trying to read his expression. “If something happens tomorrow,” she didn’t bother saying it out loud, they both knew what she meant, “I will miss you.”
She thought perhaps he did not intend to answer, as he stared away into the distance before slowly turning his gaze back to her.
“I will not miss you,” he said finally, his eyes flicking infinitesimally to her lips, before returning to her eyes.
Sorrow snorted and shook her head. That look spoke volumes. He would remember her kiss, despite what he said. And she would remember him as the man who helped her get over her husband, who opened her eyes to the wonderful escape the physical act could be, just as Etienne had said.
“I’m glad to have known you, Khalili,” she said quietly.
His curt nod was all the answer she received, as he turned and stalked away.
Sorrow turned back to stare into the fire, she thought she should walk through the humans, ensure they were ready for what was to come, but she was stalled as Etienne approached, supporting the weight of a wounded Sin. She turned her attention to examining him, he was strong, like all Sin, but his wounds would likely not be something he could recover from. She gave him some of the limited painkillers she had in her pack, and, shaking her head at Etienne behind the Sin’s back to indicate there was nothing more she could do, told the Frenchman to help him back to his group. She knew he would likely be dead in a few hours; he was just one of many that would not make the return trip to the castle. They were too few, poorly equipped in terms of weaponry, and unused to the coordinated battle techniques the Gharials were displaying.
Feeling despondent, Sorrow
rose and made her way slowly from fire to fire, talking to human and Sin alike, asking questions of their well-being, ensuring they all knew what was to happen the following day – handing out medications where needed and advice when asked.
As she neared two of the campfires surrounded by humans her ears caught an argument. She cleared her throat to indicate she was present before making her way closer to the fire.
“Is something wrong?”
A tall man in a brown shift answered for the group, most of whom shuffled, looking sheepishly at their feet, or fiddling with their weapons.
“Some of us have wives and children following behind, others have friends. These lizard creatures seem to be all through the forest now. We are worried if we keep marching at such a fast pace, we won’t be able to protect our people if they come across the creatures. Some of us want to turn back, to guard the rest of the people as they march towards the gates.”
Sorrow sighed.
She had told the people to stay behind at the castle, warned them of the dangers of trying to walk to the gates. She’d assured them she would send pods to collect them and get them to the gates if it was safe – but many had refused to listen. They had survived kidnapping from Earth, servitude to Earthborn, slavery and disease on the plains and attacks by the Sin. The Gharials had been the last straw. Knowing the gates were open and not likely under the control of the Gods or Earthborn had emboldened them – they would make for the portals no matter the risk.
“I warned them, and you, before we left,” Sorrow said, addressing all those around her, not just the man who had spoken, “we couldn’t take the time to walk with them. We needed to force march – they have fallen so far behind now there is nothing we can do.”
There was a low murmur of dissent from those around her, and she squared her shoulders.
“I won’t stop you turning back,” she said quietly, “I know many of you have family following. But if you do turn back, we may lack the numbers we need to take control of the gates. John says the portals are overrun by lizards; the Earthborn are struggling against them. The only chance we have is to surprise them and, with our numbers, small as they are, close the Gharial gate and seize control of the Earth portal. If we can keep it safe, then when your families arrive they can jump straight through. But we need every man and woman capable of fighting to help us do this.”
Some people nodded, some grumbled.
“I’m turning back,” the man who had first spoken said, “who is with me?”
No one answered, and Sorrow, shaking her head, walked away, hearing heated discussion begin again as she left.
She knew that when they resumed their march in a few hours, some of the humans would have turned back, but she also knew she had no control over their actions or destiny – all she could do was continue with the plan the majority had agreed upon. She wondered what her mother would have done in this situation but shook her head to get rid of that thought. She was alone here, an adult, she had to rely on her own intelligence and hope she knew what was best. And besides, she had Etienne, the voice of reason if she really began to doubt herself, although even then she often used him as a sounding board but followed her own heart.
“You always want the last word,” he had told her during their big argument over punishment of the captives who broke the law of the Keep. But more often than he knew she gave that to him.
Reaching her campfire, she settled down to check her weapons and eat a handful of trail mix. In the distance, she could smell meat – the Sin feasting on the dead Gharials. Each crocodilian alien killed was a double boon for them, it gave the humans a new laser weapon, and filled the stomachs of the Sin, who, ever hungry, could not entirely be trusted not to predate upon their human comrades.
“I’m afraid I am not very popular with your monsters,” Etienne laughed, sitting down beside her and interrupting her reverie.
“Well, upsetting them is not hard to do,” she laughed, “what this time?”
“I caught a bunch of them on the fringes cooking up a dead human. They were hard-pressed to understand that burial duty did not mean dinner time, they argued it was a waste of good meat.”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Sorrow moaned, “I hope none of the people noticed.”
“No,” Etienne grimaced, “they were all too busy having their little revolution. At least three dozen have disappeared, headed back the way we came. I assume you know all about this.”
“Yes,” Sorrow sighed, “they want to go back and protect the humans following. They plan to all reach the gates together.”
“Fools,” Etienne shook his head.
“No, just frightened,” Sorrow said quietly. “Etienne promise me you won’t be a fool. If there is a chance tomorrow of jumping through the portals, you need to take it. I don’t want you staying for me. I am a big girl, I’ve made my choice.”
“Oui,” he said quietly, tipping water onto the fire and watching the flames on the logs began to die.
“Are you listening?” Sorrow laughed gently, “you have been a wonderful friend and ally here, but I don’t need a babysitter.”
“No one said you were a baby, mon poussin. How do you know I do not enjoy this life of savagery and brutality?”
Sorrow laughed and punched him lightly on the arm. “Stick close to me tomorrow then, mon nounours; I’ll want to say goodbye as you leave.”
“Mon nounours? Teddy bear? I am nobody’s bear,” he laughed at her French endearment, “I am a wolf, a fox, a frightening and powerful beast.”
“You are an idiot,” she laughed, “now come on.”
Rising and shrugging on her pack she helped him from the ground, and they joined the rest of the Sin and the remaining humans, setting off at a jog towards the lights on the horizons and the dull thud of explosions.
Several more times over the coming hours as they journeyed to the gate the group was attacked. Each time they fought through, but at every stage dozens of bodies of Sin, humans and the Gharials were left behind.
By the time Sorrow and her small army reached the forest near the gates, her numbers were down to about 300, less than 50 of which were exhausted, able-bodied humans. Behind their lines more humans were straggling along, not willing or able to fight, but desperate to get to the gate and jump back to Earth.
Although Khalili and she had agreed their forces would hide in the woods and make a run for the gates as a large group, events decided against this course of action. Reaching the area near the gates Sorrow realised the portals were overrun, the Earthborn all but annihilated as columns of Gharials led by tall men in red battle suits clamoured through an open portal and began shooting straight into the Earthborn fighters before breaking away left towards the Capital.
Making a split decision, Sorrow determined there was no other option, if the humans had any hope of reaching the gates, they needed to attack now, while they had the element of surprise – the Gharials mostly heading in the opposite direction from the forest.
“Get to the gates,” she screamed to all those around her, “Stop them coming through the portal – run!”
Overhead she heard the buzz and ping of the pod as it flew low and supported her ground assault. Sorrow raised her hands and signalled John to head to the gates. They had already prearranged this assault, and his job was to try, any which way he could, to close the portal the Gharials were coming through.
As she reached the area where the gates shone, like luminescent shimmering pools in the sky, she saw all around her nothing but total chaos and devastation. Bodies of Earthborn, human and Gharial, created a mountain of flesh over which the incoming creatures had to climb as they shimmered into existence at the mouth of the portal. The ground, littered with the dead and dying, had become a muddy and bloody quagmire that they immediately sank into, ankle deep.
Looking to the sky Sorrow saw three, maybe four pods whizzing here and there firing into the portal – their shots made no difference to the gate itself, or to the thousands
upon thousands of lizards teeming through. Everywhere she saw Earthborn and their human slaves fighting for their lives against overwhelming odds, the influx of her force of Sin and humans barely making a dent in the green wave rolling out of the gate. The air was thick with smoke and screams; visibility was low, Gharials appearing out of the dense haze like spectres.
She gasped as Etienne gripped her arm and threw her roughly to the ground.
“Fuck, ma belle,” he shouted into her ear, “you almost lost your head to a lizard laser, wake up.”
“I’m fine,” Sorrow frowned, rising to her knees, “Etienne the lasers from the pods aren’t closing the portal – we need to come up with another plan.”
She was about to go on when a shot hit her in the leg, slicing open her thigh, and another timed shot, thwacked in close succession into her stomach, click, tick – but no boom. She gasped, doubling over in pain. For some reason, the little bomb hadn’t gone off, not yet anyway. Etienne struggled on the ground with a Gharial assailant as, falling to her side she dug her hand into the cavity in her stomach and pulled out the deadly visitor – hurling it a few feet away. Pulling off her pack she lay as flat as she could and sprayed her leg with instant bandage, sealing the cut and staunching the bleeding. She knew there was nothing she could do about her stomach wound here on the field, she needed to retreat. Staggering to her feet, she looked through the dense cloud of dust and smoke for her friend but saw no sign of him as she clutched her stomach and gasped in pain.
“Oh Jeezus Christ,” she moaned, as she saw an Earthborn striding purposefully in her direction; a look of range and bloodthirsty triumph on his face. Anhur levelled his laser at her chest, “oh fuck, oh no,” she breathed, as her own weapon dropped from her hand and her knees wobbled. She saw the satisfaction in his face as he squeezed the trigger, but his shot, terrifyingly loud at such close quarters, just missed her as she was knocked flat once more by Etienne.