Henry caught her hand. The place she had touched had a prickly sensation. “Kir, that’s enough now. I know very well that you control Maria!”
She slowly took her hand from Henry’s grip and warned him with a cold tone, “Don’t touch me without my approval.” She looked Henry in the face and added icily, “I could become irritated and react wickedly.” Then she raised her hand and strongly pushed him to the wall with only an insignificant part of her strength. “Still, you are lucky that Maria loves you.”
“Leave him alone!” Nancy shouted and got up from her chair, but Kir waved her hand, and Nancy fell back into the seat. Then Kir addressed her in a voice full of dread. “Nancy, I wasn’t talking to you! Look for your life elsewhere. He isn’t for you!”
Though Nancy wasn’t able to move, she shouted furiously and tried to free herself, “Bitch! Get off me now! Who are you that you may talk about how I should live?” It wasn’t obvious from where Kir had gotten all this information about her, but nevertheless Nancy wouldn’t permit her to tell her what to do.
But before she could open her mouth, Kir continued. “Don’t make me laugh. Your life was filled with work and growth in the military hierarchy, but where has that got you? Where is love in it? There were so many men who wanted to love you, but you would never allow anyone to peep into your heart. Can’t you see that your soul is falling apart because you love the wrong man?”
“You’re rotten…” Nancy didn’t finish the sentence but burst into tears and covered her face with her hands.
“Maybe I am a rotten beast, but isn’t what I said true? Honey, stop loving Henry! You’re only killing yourself that way!”
Henry looked at Nancy and asked, “Is this true?”
She wiped off the tears with her fingers and lowered her gaze to the floor.
“Yes, it is… I love you.”
Henry knew that he was appealing to her, but he didn’t know that she had been in love with him all these years. Jesus! I couldn’t accept it. He walked tensely across the office and stopped in front of Nancy, who was looking at the floor humbly. Her long blonde hair was neatly gathered into a ponytail that fell across her shoulder. She was waiting. She had said what she felt, and now it all came down to what he would say. It was also a bit anti-climax since she always thought that she was strong and now here she was completely thrown off track and subdued. She didn’t like the situation that she was in.
Henry called her softly. She raised her gray eyes, which were flickering with tears. “You’re my best friend…” Henry stopped, trying to stress what he was thinking, “...and I never considered you more than that.”
“I know,” she sighed.
Henry held the root of his nose with his thumb and the forefinger and closed his eyes, thinking about Kir, who had stirred up all this trouble. He couldn’t get her out of his head for the crazy reason that she attracted him with these acts. She was wild and uncontrollable and markedly dangerous, but that was like a magnet for him. Henry knew that she felt that foolish attractiveness because she obviously intended to provoke Nancy. He approached Nancy and touched her shoulder gently. “I want to remain your friend, but I need some time…” he angrily looked at Kir, who was looking out the window as if she wasn’t interested in the story, even though she had started all this. “Let me think about this.”
Nancy gently touched his face with her fingers. “Henry, I want us to remain friends, regardless of everything. Everything Kir said made me think about it. Maybe I should have… earlier…” She broke off in the middle of the sentence, leaning her hand against his chest. “Kir speaks the truth when she says that I hide my feelings and that I don’t live fully.”
With his forefinger, Henry wiped away a tear which was gliding down her cheek, and then he drew her closer to him and hugged her. “You’ve always been, and you always will be my friend. Don’t you forget that.”
They stood silent for a while and then there was a knock at the door. Nancy moved away from him and quickly wiped away her tears and flattened her uniform.
“Come in!” Henry responded.
Major Vallery appeared at the door. “Sergeant Colburn and Lieutenant Burn have arrived.”
“Let them come in.”
Vallery stepped aside. “Come in. They are waiting for you!”
“We are reporting ourselves, Brigadier!” they said in unison after they had entered the office.
Henry addressed them in a calm voice, though he was still disturbed by Kir’s presence. She didn’t even move; she was looking out at space, not paying any attention to them. “Gentlemen, your behavior in the canteen wasn’t appropriate!”
The two of them watched one another and then the Lieutenant answered, “Both of us are aware of that, Sir. We are ready for your verdict on that, as you deem fit.”
Henry looked at Nancy. “What do you reckon – to punish them or not?”
She came out of her pensive, looked at the Lieutenant and the Sergeant and concluded quietly, “I think there won’t be any need for that, but…” When she had composed herself completely, she looked them directly in their eyes and added in a commanding tone, “But ensure that something like this doesn’t happen again, or I’ll take you to prison and make you an example for anybody who participates in such fights. Is that clear, gentlemen?”
“Yes, Maʼam. Completely!”
“And something else. If I hear about any new incidents in my unit, I’ll consider both of you responsible. You are dismissed now!”
When they went out, they were lucky that they had got off with only a verbal reprimand. Kir then spoke to them. “You’ll are rather good commanders; one must acknowledge that of both of you.”
Nancy was not too amused with the compliment; after all, it was the same thing which turned her life upside down a moment back. She turned to Henry, closed her eyes and said, “I’m going to the commander’s bridge. If you need me, you know where to find me.”
Henry smiled and said, “See you at dinner.”
Kir and Henry stayed behind. She came closer to him and said in a mild voice, “I want to talk to you about the thoughts which reel in your head daily.”
“I’ve told you that I don’t want to talk about it with you!” Henry told her bluntly. “Now explain to me why you attacked Nancy?”
“I wanted to help her to comprehend some things while she is still young. She has lived in the clouds, so she had to come down to the ground.”
“How nice does that sounds coming from you,” he said cynically.
“Maybe, but you yourself haven’t come back from Morad.”
Henry became enraged. She had touched a raw nerve, so he growled, “The Fields of Death are no business of yours. By what right do you say anything about it?”
She continued as if she had heard nothing. “Why don’t you reconcile yourself with God?”
“And who are you that you might speak in His name?”
She didn’t reply but only asked him, “Have you ever asked yourself why you were the sole one who survived? No, you have grieved and obstinately blamed yourself for all that happened. You reckon that you could have changed the outcome of that battle, but I tell you that you could have corrected nothing.”
He looked at her furiously. “What are you talking about?! If I had noticed the Ansker positions in time, nothing would have happened!”
“You’re wrong! Some things must happen, and nothing can be done about it. These things are planned out earlier, way before our births, and they don’t depend on us.”
Henry snapped angrily, “To Hell with you and your thoughts!”
Kir looked at him full of regret and while her dark eyes literally sparkled, stated, “Now think well about what I am going to tell you. After the battle, the Anskers searched the terrain and killed the wounded, but they didn’t find you. You survived without a scratch! How much air do you reckon you had, covered under debris? You think that the soldier who saved you heard you yelling
? He didn’t hear you, but he was already moving towards the place where you were.”
Henry was stunned because she knew things that no one could know, and with a trembling voice asked, “Where have you got all this information from? Who told you?”
She retorted, “Nobody told me anything. Naturally, I don’t know anyone of them.” She stopped, stressing each word. “He told me everything. He appears in dreams or in my visions.”
“You believe in God?”
“Yes.”
Henry laughed loudly. “You must be insane!”
“Maybe I am but, still, as a child, I learned that some things are inevitable. I knew that my parents would perish, but I wasn’t able to help them because I didn’t know when it would happen. Nevertheless, I wasn’t able to use my power completely. Two nights after my escape from captivity in the Harlingthon Research Centre, He came in my dream and with His power woke up Kir, who was hidden deep in Maria’s subconscious. A day prior to that dream of Kir, He showed me only a part of the future which was before me. Since then He has been my protector and teacher. I know that He has led me on a good path with the power in my possession. With it, I can do many bad things. In Harlingthon they wanted to draw the worst out of me, to make the murder of me for their interests, which could have been dangerous for the whole of humankind. He didn’t permit them to do that and showed me the right way.” She paused for a moment and deeply sank into his eyes with a look. Henry had a feeling that she had dragged him to a place outside of the cruiser, and then her thoughts rolled in his head like a big church bell. Unconsciously he trembled, listening to her words. “Maybe I imagined that as well, but these powers I am in possession of only He could have given to me. You must reconcile yourself with Him! Believe me; it was much easier to me when I accepted it.”
After these words she left, leaving him confused. So far nobody else had succeeded in shaking him up that much. Henry sat long in silence and was a bit, alarmed. He was asking for a response looking at the millions of stars, and she had told him that all responses are hidden in his endless kingdom.
The Landing
IX
The blue-green surface of the planet Godeena didn’t look so treacherous from the commander’s bridge of the cruiser. Nancy’s face didn’t reveal any feelings while she watched the planet, though Henry knew that it below her tough countenance, there was the real Nancy who was indeed worried. The cruiser was approaching orbit. Her eyes focused on a large panel before her. She addressed him in her quiet voice. “Listen to Kir. She’s speaking the truth.”
He looked at her, surprised. “I thought you hated her!”
She turned to him with a look. “Yes, I hate her, but I think that she might help you much on the surface of the planet.”
Henry took a few moments looking at the surface of Godeena and then answered, “She gets on my nerves too, Nancy and Henry burst out laughing. “But all that she had said so far is true. She had known some things the way they happened which nobody else should have known.”
Nancy frowned and stated, “That is just so. She also knows what we don’t want to reveal ourselves.” After that statement, Nancy turned to the pilot and asked him loudly, “Are we ready to enter orbit?”
“Yes, in a couple of minutes Commander!”
She approached the pilot and pointed to the map of the planet, “I want to be in this position! Is that clear?”
“Yes, it is.”
Then she returned to Henry and continued the conversation. “I know that she can be tiring, but I’m sure that she loves you!”
Henry didn’t answer.
“However it might look, I’m a woman under this uniform, and I can feel such things, especially because I am fond of you.” She stopped for a moment and looked at the surface of the planet. She could see long rivers, city Absolute and several minor towns at the brim of the desert. “And you can be sure that she won’t hurt you, although she possesses such might that she could do horrible things.”
Henry knew that Kir had great powers, and he hoped that they could help them on Godeena. The planet was very beautiful, but he knew well that death lay in wait there for the Being was ever ready to prey on them.
The guttural voice of the pilot woke him from his thoughts. “Commander, we’re approaching the coordinates you indicated.”
Nancy issued a command. “Stabilize and stop the cruiser at that position!”
“Yes, commander!”
The opening of the crater was directly under the cruiser. Henry’s body wasn’t able to relax; each muscle was strained as a string, and there was the mild warmth from the rush of adrenaline through his veins. He was ready.
“Shall we descend into the hold?” asked Nancy when the motors of the cruiser became quiet.
“Let’s go. I think that the others are on edge like me.”
She called the Deputy Commander, who was issuing commands to some junior officers on the lower deck of the command bridge. “Lieutenant Valdez!”
Valdez came up the bridge at once and stood in attention. “Yes, Commander!”
“Take over the command bridge! I’m going into hold C-1. Prepare to seal that part.”
The Lieutenant saluted her resolutely. “Yes, commander!” He turned around and walked towards the non-commissioned officers who were talking and gesturing with their hands.
Nancy turned to Henry. “Shall we?”
“You’re leading.” Henry stepped aside, nodded, and she laughed.
*
They descended into the hold of the cruiser by lift. Fighter-bombers, transporters, and equipment for the five thousand persons who were on the cruiser were stored there in twenty compartments. The door was sealed hermetically. It was seldom that anybody came there and then it was merely for periodic essential checks of the spare parts. In times of war, all the compartments were opened, and all the fighter-bombers were equipped for action. But now it was peacetime, and only a small number of them was active. The compartment C-1 was barely thirty feet from the place where they had descended by lift, and Major Vallery was already coming towards them when the door opened. Sergeant Colburn had left with the rest of the team to go to a transporter, where he was checking the equipment and armaments.
“Is everything going according to plan?” Henry asked Vallery when she approached.
“Yes as per plan, Brigadier.”
“Have you checked every detail of the equipment?”
“Sergeant Colburn himself has done that. He has checked it three times at least. He is methodical and thorough and leaves nothing to chance.”
Nancy laughed, and Henry added, “Organization and training are his fields of expertise. Do you agree with me, Major Bauer?”
“Oh yes, as to that, he’s a fanatic,” Nancy added, nodding. “But this tension must be affecting him too. We’re all somehow a bit stressed.”
“Oh, we may breathe a sigh of relief now. We have just entered Godeena’s orbit.”
“Thank God that we have finally arrived.” Valleryʼs satisfied tone could be heard.
“Let’s inform Sergeant Colburn and the group that we’re ready to move.”
Everyone simultaneously moved to the Sergeant, who was carefully adjusting Mark Bontovic’s equipment. Having done that, he stood in front of the formation and commanded loudly, “At attention!”
The very well-trained and disciplined prisoners stood at attention, and he turned to them and saluted.
“Brigadier, we’re all ready and equipped for movement!”
“That is very good, Sergeant.” Then Henry commanded, “Stand at ease!”
For a couple of moments, Henry looked at all present and then he spoke up. “We’ve just entered orbit.”
“It’s high time!” Vandor Bult said with relief.
“You’re right. This journey has been strenuous for me as well. We’ve arrived at the entrance of Hell, and now we have to go in. Believe me; the Being on the planet won’t welcome
us with open arms. It is certain that he wants to kill us just like he did all those who had landed before us. That said we have trained to ensure that the Being is going to find it ever so difficult to even think of eliminating us. We’ve come to see what happened here and to punish this monster! Am I right?”
“Yes, Sir!” shouted everyone present.
E.T. Washington added, tapping his knife on his belt, “Let him come. He’ll get a taste of this.”
“That’s great. However, you’d be better off using the Mogula sniper on your back and don’t allow him to close in.”
He laughed, “That’s true. It’s much better to get rid of him from a distance. There’s less glamor in it but efficient nonetheless.”
“It’s essential to disable the enemy before he gets a chance to disable us; especially this one.” Henry paused and watched all present with care. “I wish you luck, and I want you all to come back from this planet.”
Endy van de Mort grinned contentedly and tapped Vandor on the shoulder, who was, in turn, admiring the barrel of his Khak cannon. “Vandor won’t need luck. When the Being sees him, he’ll die of fear.”
Vandor frowned and added with a smile, “You’re known to be unlucky.”
“It’s true, but I’m more handsome than you.”
“Yes, you should be a model. Right now they’re looking for one for a label of canned beef.”
Everybody laughed wholeheartedly. Only Colburn remained serious. Henry leaned his hand against his shoulder, at which he flinched barely perceptibly.
Henry felt that he was on tenterhooks, so he called him aside. “Relax a bit. You’ve done exceedingly well. Get the men on the transporter and let them take their places. The pilots are to stay here to agree on the final details.”
Colburn waved his hand, “This wait is killing me. Hope we set off soon.”
“That’s the spirit!” Henry slapped his shoulder. “Let’s go. Old chap, we’ve been waiting all this time.”
The Sergeant laughed and moved to the prisoners to give them orders for boarding.
While they were taking their equipment, Keniko Sun approached Henry with her rucksack on her back. “Maria is waiting for you in the second transporter.”
Godeena: SF Novel Page 19