Godeena: SF Novel

by Stjepan Cobets

  “This crater hasn’t caused him any problems so far. He isn’t interested in a couple of lizards and tiny animals so it hasn’t bothered him that he couldn’t enter the crater. But we’re an obvious threat to him, and that’s why he has decided to undertake some serious action. He wants to clean away the problem, like on the rest of this planet.”

  Henry scratched his chin and asked, “Are these ‘cleaners’ able to cross the brim of the crater? However, cliffs are quite high.”

  “Yes. They are robots, and the magnetic effect created by the meteoric remnants doesn’t disturb them. Through his thoughts, I got in touch with one of them. At that time they were in a large depot, and there were some ten thousand of them, but I wasn’t able to evaluate how big they are.”

  With this mad Being, we just need crappy robots. Jesus. “And when will these iron shit appear?”

  “No later than tomorrow morning; they are still in the desert.”

  “So it means we haven’t much time.”

  “Yes. But it has given us an ideal chance to surprise him and destroy all his robots with one precise stroke. I know that we have Delta bombs in our arsenal – we should use them when they rush into the crater. It’s a big mistake that he has sent a large number of robots and so weakened his defense. When we destroy them, we’ll fly directly to Absolute.”

  For some time Henry had been waiting for the Being’s next move. Now he had shown his cards, but he had made a mistake by underestimating them. Kir was right: he had to use this chance. They had to attack him when he least expected it. “It’s time for fighting.”

  “Yes.”

  “Delta bombs are a great idea and the crater is the right place to use them. All the robots in the crater will be damaged by the electromagnetic impulses when they explode, but the animals living here won’t be endangered since it only works on electronic equipment. We have to set up the bombs at appropriate places, so the whole crater will be covered by the strike. I know the right person for that work.”

  “I’ll leave it to you, but don’t forget that we have to attract them to us and only then strike with all our force.”

  Henry has already had a plan in his head. “That won’t be a problem – we’ll activate the Delta bombs by means of a time detonator when we are far away. We don’t have much time. We have to begin right away with the preparations for leaving. I must inform the others about the cleaners. I think they’ll like it very much.”

  “It doesn’t matter whether they like or not,” said Kir, getting up from his bed and throwing her hair back as she passed him, “they must all be aware that they haven’t come here on a trip.”

  Henry went out with her and called Vallery, who was busy unloading the equipment. “Major!”

  “Yes, Commander?”

  “Tell Colburn to call a gathering!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A moment later the whole camp gathered before Henry and Kir. He smiled at their appearance; most of them had rolled their sleeves up, unbuttoned their shirts and forgotten to comb their hair and shave their beards, which they hadn’t touched during the past three days. It ruined the serious image of a soldier. Colburn stood with his hands on his hips and shook his head, dissatisfied because he did not like it. But Henry didn’t have any intention of warning them against these unimportant trifles. When necessary they could be completely ready. “Ladies and gentlemen, Kir has just found out that the Being has set forth against us with his cleaners. They’ll arrive at the crater in the morning, most probably. We don’t have too much time. We have to pack and get ready to leave.”

  “What creatures are these ‘cleaners’?” asked Wilburn Man, aka Sesame.

  “They are some sort of robot, and they can come into the crater.”

  “Well then, let them come! We’ll clean all of them!” said Endy, hitting his hand into his palm.

  “There are too many of them, Endy,” Henry concluded.

  “Well, how many of them are coming then?” asked Lara Bitnick, aka Fury, with a frown.

  “Thousands and there is no chance of making a stand against them. Still, we’ll prepare a warm welcome for them. Endy, for that I need your professional knowledge.”

  “Mine?!” he asked, surprised, not believing his own ears.

  “Yes, I need your opinion. Aren’t you an expert in setting up explosives?”

  “Well, I know something, that’s true.”

  “That will do, I need you.”

  Henry turned to Colburn, who was listening carefully. “Sergeant Colburn, take care that all the equipment is in the transporters by this evening. Everybody must put on their full suits and war equipment. I want you all to be ready for a quick evacuation of the camp.”

  He saluted him severely. “It will be as you have ordered.”

  “Major Vallery, you’ll take over the command until Endy, and I come back.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Henry saluted them and gave a sign with his hand to Endy to follow him to the armament store. He went directly to the box with the Delta bombs and took out one. “Do you know how to handle these babies?”

  “I personally prefer louder fireworks. These things seem to me to be a little weak.” He leaned towards him, making the most innocent face, and whispered, “I have to confess that I once used these, but you won’t find anything about it in my file.”

  Henry looked at him askance and watched his blessed facial expression. “I hope that whoever you kill with that bomb was meant for deserved it.”

  He looked at him, his eyes narrowed and he said with an icy voice, “Nobody could be sorry for such a person.” He stopped for a moment and scratched his chin, remembering the incident. “Such bombs create a strong electromagnetic impulse, so I used them to destroy the computer in his private aircraft. It was a wonderful sight when he struck the runway at maximum speed.”

  “Your past doesn’t interest me. We have to damage a heap of robots that are moving in to kill us.” Henry handed him a bomb. “How many bombs do you think will be necessary to cover the entire crater?”

  “I think five. I’d like to see the map of the crater, and then I’ll be able to tell you exactly.”

  “Well then, let’s go check that map.”

  *

  “Knife, what time is it?”

  “Four forty-five. Why are you asking?”

  “I only want to know how long it is until the end of my shift. For a long time, I haven’t…” Suddenly he fell silent.

  “Wilburn, what is it?”

  He waved a hand to be silent. “It seems to me that something is moving in the forest.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He didn’t answer, but then he shouted, “Give me those binoculars! Wait! I see something! The tree has fallen, wait for me to sharpen the picture. Wonderful! This shit is big.”

  “Are they coming?”

  “Yes. Inform the others.”

  Knife grabbed the radio and shouted, “Commander, we’ve just spotted them!”

  “Withdraw to the transporter. That applies to the others as well!”

  *

  When they had all boarded in the transporters, Henry went quickly to the fighter and prepared it for take-off. He switched on the lights and prepped the cannons for firing. Diana, who was sitting at his back, asked him, “Are we going to shoot at them?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is the benefit of that shooting?”

  “We’ll make them come closer, and then we’ll let off our fireworks. Endy, are you ready?”

  “I’m waiting for your signal.”

  “When I start to fire the cannons, activate the bombs.”

  Henry took off and turned to look at the rest of the crew on the communication screen, hardly discerning their faces because of the static disturbance. “Vallery, can you see the enemy?”

  “Not yet!”

  “Berry?”

  “We do not see them!”

  �
��Be ready for a swift departure!”

  “All you have to follow me closely when I go.” said Berry worriedly, watching me through the monitor.

  “Don’t you worry, we’ll follow you closely, but first I must be assured that we have entrapped them and destroyed all the scum in the crater.”

  Vallery called, “Commander, Vandor has just informed me that he spotted the cleaners some hundred meters to the left of us.”

  “When robots enter the range, fell free to open fire.”

  Soon Henry saw dozens of huge, black, hunched humanoid robots whose body armor dimly glistened under the lights of the transporters. They were swinging their gigantic arms, which ended with three sharp claws that tore everything in their way. Behind them swayed the robots that gathered broken things and threw them all into their gigantic barrel-shaped bodies through an opening at the top. When they were full they stopped and recycled what they had collected with a loud whistling of steam that came out of the holes in their bodies. After that, they would continue collecting frantically. Around these dashed thousands of different robots, the size of a fist to the height of a man, and they all had the same goal: to destroy everything in their path. The forest was literally disappearing before our eyes. The river of robots swallowed it like a wild torrent, leaving behind only a bare wasteland.

  Vandor opened fire from Vallery’s transporter which was flying a couple of meters above the ground. Strikes from the Khak cannon illuminated the first row of huge robots with its greenish light, vomiting fire from all six of its barrels. Henry joined in the firing from his fighter. Plasma strikes butchered the first rows of robots, but they didn’t stop the advance of the others, who were charging towards them and stomped across the remnants of the destroyed machines.

  At that moment Endy called, “The bombs are active. We’ve got exactly two minutes to disappear from the crater.”

  “That is excellent Berry! We’re leaving!”

  “Mooooove!” shouted Berry and flew towards the brim of the crater. Behind him, Vallery flew in her transporter, from which Vandor was still firing the Khak cannon.

  “Vandor, that’s enough amusement!” I shouted.

  Vandor grinned and asserted, “I had to send them our final goodbye.”

  “I hope they have received it. Now close the door and take your place!”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  They all flew across the brim of the crater at the same time. The storm rampaged on each side, lifting away from our ships like a huge curtain. They were a couple of miles from the crater when a bright white light flooded the view behind them. Instantly Henry knew that the cleaners which had entered the crater were now only a heap of old tin and iron. At the same time, the Being went mad. Lightning tore the night all around them, but it was in vain.

  Absolute

  XII

  They were slowly flying low above the desert, avoiding the numerous sand dunes, sandbanks, and stony high plains. Every hundred mile they would stop for Berry to launch a storm transmitter through the thunder clouds which were surrounding them. Then, after having read the coordinates, they would continue their journey, correcting or following the course which was drawn on our pilot maps. It was expected to take them an hour’s flight to reach the sea coast, so Henry called Berry to check and compare the data. From either end, they received some static disturbances made by the meteoric pebbles which covered our fighter. “…hear… yo… Commander…”

  “If my data is correct we’ll be above the sea in an hour.”

  “Righ…”

  “How are the rest of the crew?”

  “Fo… now all of the… are well. Only Serge… Colburn is constant… growling.”

  I laughed at his words. “I don’t doubt that. He loves the solid ground.”

  Colburn joined in. “This is true… I cannot wait… to land… the concrete.”

  “Just wait for a little, old friend, we are not far from our goal.”

  “I’ve passed through…worse this… then this.”

  “I have no doubt about that. Berry, please watch him. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “You have no… fear. He is in goo… hands.”

  “He knows all about you, Berry; he has read your file. That’s why he’s so afraid.”

  Colburn, pretending to be angry, added, “I know… how crazy… Berry is, the… fo… sure.”

  Berry was laughing, and he added, “Comm… I didn’t… think that… he had such… good … the opinion of me.”

  “He likes to praise his men!” Laughter reached from the other speaker, and Henry concluded the conversation. “Speak to you soon at the coast.”

  Within half an hour they saw some differences in the landscape. While they were flying over the yellowish dunes, green grass increasingly took precedence over the desert, which slowly lost its struggle the closer they came to the coast. They started to notice an occasional stunted tree, and soon it seemed as if they were gathering in certain places and creating smallish groves. Shortly they grew into a great forest that stretched for miles along the coast. As the forest became thicker, the storm began to weaken, as if the Being had given up its unsuccessful pursuit. Henry addressed Kir, who was watching the new situation with a smile. “What’s happening now?”

  “He’s withdrawing into his fort, Absolute.”

  Henry dissatisfied asserts, “That isn’t good.”

  “It isn’t. However, at the moment his defensive might is considerably weakened.”

  “That might mean we can expect he’ll be waiting while we land.”

  “That’s right.”

  “Now we’ll turn the training we did to our advantage.”

  Diana got involved in the conversation. “Sorry for interrupting you, but I wasn’t trained for a fight.”

  They looked at her, and Henry concluded, “Kir might briefly explain to you how to use an energy rifle. It’s no problem, just aim and pulls the trigger.”

  “Yea, it’s easy to say that,” said Diana angrily.

  “If you succeeded at surviving in the desert, you’ll be able to pull that trigger, Diana.”

  “It’s not the same, Broncon,” she snapped back.

  “Survival is the gist, and it seems to me that you like life. That’s why the sooner you practice shooting, the better.”

  “But first I’ll show you how to unlock the rifle,” added Kir.

  Henry laughed. “I’d forgotten that small detail! It’s simple anyway, but I’ll let Kir show you.”

  Kir grabbed the nearest rifle. She turned to Diana, showed her the switch and started to explain. “This is the main switch to unlock the rifle. If you don’t push it down”, she showed her, “you won’t be able to shoot. When you are without any ammunition, you have to press here.” The clip slipped out of its socket, and she handed it to Diana with the rifle. “Try to put it back into the socket.” Diana accepted it and pushed the clip back in. Kir added, “And that’s all, but there is one more little thing, an essential thing: you have to be sure that the rifle is always locked so as not to kill anybody around you. That is the end of the training.”

  Diana locked the rifle and laid it aside. “I hope I won’t need it.”

  “You have to take it with you anyway,” Henry said.

  You’re an ordinary jerk, and you will not tell me what I should do. “I do if I have to. But I’d rather carry some of the equipment which remained in Absolute.”

  “Nobody minds that, but the rifle must be with you. Is that clear?”

  She snorted through her nose, upset by his commanding tone. She turned angrily to the window and answered, “It’s clear.”

  Henry knew that she would like to hit him head on something, but it didn’t bother him in the least; it was high time that she knew how to deal with a rifle. He was more worried by the idea that the Being could welcome them in Absolute. Now it was his turn; they were arriving on his ground. But Berry woke him from his considerations. “Com…der,
I just arrived on… coast.”

  “Now there are no clouds it’ll be easier to fly.”

  “I … want… ask w… happen…?”

  “The Being withdrew into Absolute and is waiting for us.”

  “Wha…ll we don…?”

  “Attack the fort. Vallery, we may expect that the Being won’t be happy when we land in Absolute. Get everyone ready for action.”

  “Everybody is ready and pump… the fight,” Vallery exclaimed.

  “The same… as mi…” Colburn called.

  “So that’s settled. Berry, direct us to Absolute.”

  “Yes, S…”

  The sea which divided the desert continent from the sizeable island of Absolute was as clear as glass, so they were able to glide just above it, leaving behind a white trail of drops. This time, they were flying in one direction, and they didn’t have to follow Berry’s transporter, so they crossed the ocean at almost maximum speed. After an hour’s flight, they noticed a considerable mountain rising from the sea on the horizon of the larger island.

  When Diana saw it, she said, “That’s the mountain Munnat. Absolute is to the east, in a valley.”

  Henry watched the mountains with a touch of respect, and concluded, “In the maps, the city seems to be huge.”

  Diana confirmed with a touch of awe in his voice, “It is, huge and desolate, but all the buildings are preserved. Most probably the Being is holding it with his cleaners.”

  “Maybe that was his main purpose, at least until he went wild and killed all the inhabitants,” Henry stated.

  “Maybe, but I have to tell you that I felt odd in such a huge city without any living beings. No less than that, there were no animals.”

  “A ghost city,” confirmed Kir.

  “That is true. At any moment you’re expecting somebody to appear, but the only one who appeared was the one who turned all of Absolute into a ghost city.”

  Then they were silent and watched the island come closer and closer. When they were extremely close to the island Berry rapidly turned to the east, towards where the city was. Soon they were flying above large stony hills, which created a natural ridge that divided the coast from the larger valley. After they had flown over that stony ridge, they saw the fascinating picture of Absolute flooded with the light of the afternoon sun. It looked like a golden town from some of the fairy tales by Henry listened to as a child.