It sprouted four legs and backed up the bank. The two automacubes continued to try to engage their weapons, but the sphere extended long whip like strands which came down with demolishing effect. S213 was split down the middle and nearly severed into two. There were internal explosions as the munitions inside it went off.
On the other side of the melee, the second sphere had ejected globe after globe. The troopers on the river bank were just piles of broken bodies and steaming bloody flesh.
Piff. Piff.
Larissa fired from a crouched position and more goo was ripped from the first sphere.
Konstantin lobbed another explosive toward the first sphere and it went off on top of the thing. The sphere retracted the legs and rolled away from the explosion right onto S505. It then sprouted several thick and heavy limbs which pummeled the automacube into a worthless wreck.
“Governor! We must escape!” Konstantin yelled. “Run! I will provide you with cover.” He stood up and threw the last of his explosives. It went off just to the side of where the sphere was beating the remains of the automacube. The incendiary gel and munitions inside the automacube went off exacerbating the effect of the charge. The shock wave from that mighty explosion threw the sphere into the air and it landed back in the water.
Konstantin and Larissa were both knocked off their feet by the blast.
The second sphere grew legs and then walked rapidly up and out of the riverbed. It came up onto the bridge, past the dead troopers, and stood over Larissa and Konstantin who were both flat on their backs. Larissa still clutched the pistol she had been firing. She tried to aim it at the coming sphere.
A long extremity jetted out from the sphere and encircled Larissa’s arm and hand and covered over the pistol. The substance started to spread up Larissa’s arm, shoulder, and head. Konstantin tried in vain to draw his handgun, but the holster was empty, the gun had been lost somewhere in the fight. His one arm was broken as was his opposite leg.
The purple substance was expanding quickly over Larissa, and the strand of it connected to the sphere was expanding and growing. Konstantin grabbed at it with his working hand and tried to pull it off. It was both sticky and slimly at the same time and felt like it undulated in his hands. He could not get a grip.
The substance closed over Larissa’s body and then she was sucked next to the sphere. Konstantin slumped away in anguish and pain as the sack was drawn back.
“Governor!”
The sack of material she was in was not as deep a purple color as was the rest of the sphere, but it shimmered and glowed and was fuzzy and indistinct.
The sphere, now not perfectly round but having the lumpy sack containing Larissa on its side then used its legs to flop itself up and over the ruined guardrail. It fell with a plop into the water and sank away.
The water was settling down.
Konstantin looked for help. No one was moving. “Help!” he yelled out as he surveyed the carnage around him. He fumbled about on his belt and found that he still had the pouch with his multiceiver. His bloody hand lifted it out and he spoke into it. “Medical emergency on the bridge. Mass wounded.”
His head dropped back and he looked up at the sky tube far overhead. He wondered if the medical automacubes would reach him in time. He again spoke into the multiceiver, “Constable Brock. Emergency call.”
“This is Constable Brock.” His face appeared on the display. “What has happened?” he cried out in astonishment.
“Enemies have attacked us. They have taken Governor Larissa,” Konstantin said as he passed out. The multiceiver fell from his limp hand.
Stanislov came rushing up onto the bridge. “It is a Rusalka! There were two of them. We are all doomed.”
6 The Artemis and the oaks
It was a long and tiring night walking with the hunters. Paul, Gretchen, and Brinley were exhausted. The hunters seemed to never tire at all. Just as the sky tube was starting to lighten, the Longinus led them into a town.
“This is Barnaul. It is a town,” The Longinus said to Paul. “See there are buildings and homes and markets.”
“I know what a town is,” Paul said sullenly.
The buildings were round with steep cone-shaped roofs. They were made from permalloy and the underlying color was white. Each house had an accent color on it, usually a stripe of color around the middle of the house parallel to the ground. There were blue, green, red, and yellow accent colors. Also painted on those houses were shapes of arrows, dots, and other images on the exterior walls of the homes. Many had a spear painted upright near the doorway. Each home had at least one door and several windows, but all were a single level.
Many of the homes had powered light sources which shined out from the windows. As they walked into the city further, those lights came on more frequently.
“Our town of Barnaul is waking for us on our return,” the Longinus laughed. “Now that my mission is over, I return to being Sibat.” He lifted a medallion from around his neck. It was a golden colored disk with a spear symbol engraved onto it.
Without a word, the hunters departed, except for Oda and the Longinus.
“Now my dear Sibat,” Oda said to the man who had been the Longinus. “Shall we show our guests here to The Artemis, or what?”
Sibat, still holding the golden medallion, took Oda in his arms and kissed her. After the embrace, they turned to the others, “Come along. Our mission is completed, even though you interrupted it. You will have an audience with the Artemis.”
“I am tired and hungry and worn out,” Paul said. “I need to sleep.”
“You can tell the Artemis all your troubles. Your dishonor should be the first of your confessions. Come this way.”
Sibat turned and walked down the roadway holding hands with Oda. They passed between the white houses with their colorful decorations. Paul, Gretchen, Brinley and the orange automacube followed along.
Tiffany signaled Paul in a private channel over the communication link, “Paul, I strongly suggest that you not antagonize anyone here. I am not sure of our status with these people, and their customs are not in my database. I conjecture than there is a good chance that we are prisoners or will become prisoners.”
“Understood,” Paul muttered under his breath.
They came upon an open area, where there were no houses. The ground was hard packed and light brown color. Not quite the dry tan of the world around Dome 17, but it had the impression of dryness anyway.
Sibat stepped to the center of the area and called in a loud voice, “The Artemis is needed.”
People came out and gathered to watch. Many children also looked on from behind their parents. Some mothers held small babies, and several elderly people either looked out their windows, or hobbled out to see who was calling.
When a woman walked out from one of the homes, all heads turned to see her. She was tense and anxious, with her hands moving frequently. Her large round gray eyes drew attention to them. She looked side to side cautiously.
“I am here,” the woman said.
“Artemis, we have found wanderers on the mission,” Sibat then explained all about the encounter.
“So the chimpanzees were not injured?” the woman asked. Her thick, straight, golden-brown hair was very short and spiked up from her head. She was very tall, at least as tall as Gretchen, but with a thinner build.
“They were only annoyed, and disturbed. I saw no injuries beyond that,” Sibat related.
“You did well as the Longinus. I am certain Diana is pleased,” the woman related. “I will continue the conversation with these visitors.”
“Thank you Artemis,” Sibat said and took a bow and then left along with Oda.
“So why have you come into our homeland, since you obviously do not know about this place?” the woman asked.
Brinley stepped forward, “Thank you for speaking to us. How do I address you?”
“I am these people’s Artemis. I am not the Artemis for you.” the woman looked side
to side in nervous energy. “I think we should talk in the grove. Please follow me. The automacube shall remain here. It will be safe.”
The Artemis then turned to the crowd of watchers. “Please go about your typical day. I appreciate… you being observers, but I will now take… these people, to speak to them. Thank you again.” When she addressed the crowd she was even more nervous and stuttered a bit in her speech.
Tiffany contacted the three though the communication link and stated, “I will remain here. I will monitor the conversation, if that is acceptable to you?”
“Yes, we will follow. Thank you,” Brinley stated both to the Artemis and to Tiffany indirectly.
She walked around the side of the house she had come out from previously. The others followed. The sky tube was shining brightly down now and the area was bathed in its light. Behind the house was a stairway that went down into a hollow area where a grove of trees was located. From the top of the stairs they could see out across the crown of the trees to the far side of the depressed area which was roughly a hundred meters away. The hollow was deep enough that the large trees only reached up to ground level. It was a rolling plain of tree tops of dark colored leaves reflecting the light of the sky tube, rustling and shimmering in the morning air. The stairs were made from some kind of white stone material. It reminded Paul of the statue they had seen at the transport hub.
“The Longinus said something about a grove of trees or a place?” Paul muttered. “Is that where we are?”
“Yes. It is a location of tranquility and healing. It is especially helpful for one who is dishonored,” the Artemis stated with a touch of a quiver in her voice. “Our lady Diana will show you forgiveness and a better path.”
“I am still not certain how to address you,” Brinley asked carefully.
“I am not certain how you should address me. I have not entertained people from outside of D Habitat, Safari before. Nor do I recall any Artemis doing so. Before I became the Artemis, I was named Sophia. However, that is too personal a greeting to use with strangers. So perhaps just call me Artemis because it seems I have been anointed for this time and place even for you. Yes, call me Artemis.”
“Thank you Artemis. I am Brinley, this is Gretchen, and this is Paul.”
They descended the stairs and into the grove of trees. The walls of the hollow were very steep and has masses of vines. The trees were all stout with large trunks. A greenish covering was on some of the trunks and it was a different color than the green of the leaves on the trees. The leaves themselves were basically oblong shaped with rounded lobes and heavy veins. The ground was covered by very short and soft grass. The boughs of the trees were almost horizontal and about three meters over their heads. The limbs and braches were thick and the light coming through was diffuse and soft. They whole place had a serene feeling about it.
“This is the Oak Grove, a place for refreshment and restoration of honor,” the Artemis said.
“I used a weapon to defend us. How is that dishonorable?” Paul asked as they walked.
“Defending others is not dishonorable. It is the selection of the weapon used that is the dishonor. Forgive me if I seem condescending. I am unused to people not being aware of how Diana views our lives and our world. I am well aware that other habitats exist on the Colony Ship Vanguard, I did not realize the people there were so lost and misguided,” the Artemis replied.
Paul stopped himself before he said anything, mostly because Gretchen had placed a strong hand on his chest.
“Artemis, can you help us understand?” Gretchen asked.
“Certainly. Diana wants us to be physically and mentally fit, both are equally important. Dishonor comes from using weapons that do not require muscle. The firearm is the ultimate example of a muscle-less and dishonorable weapon.”
They had now reached the center of the grove and they came upon another statue. This one was of the same hard white substance, and was again of a muscular woman. The statue was standing on one leg with the other leg stretched behind, in a running position. In one hand was a long spear, very much like the ones the hunters had used. The arm was drawn back as if the spear was about to be plunged into the prey. The statue had the same face as the one previously. The trees overhead had been carefully pruned back so as to allow the sky tube’s light to shine down on the statue illuminating it from above.
“This is Diana,” the Artemis said in her nervous manner. She extended her arm in a sweeping motion. “As you can see, she is a hunter. She uses a spear, as do all our hunters, because the spear is a weapon of muscle. It is the most honorable of weapons. The firearm is the least honorable of weapons.”
“I still do not understand, the end result is the same,” Paul said. “Be it killed by a spear or killed by a bullet, dead is dead.”
The Artemis gave Paul a complacent grin and answered. “For the prey, yes the result is the same. For the hunter, the results are vastly different. The spear takes much skill, knowledge, muscle, training, and timing. The firearm, not so much.” She looked at their puzzled expressions. “It really is simple. Diana shows us the use of the spear, and we follow in her footsteps. It has been that way ever since the Colony Ship Vanguard was launched. Often our habitat has been called, Safari, as its original purpose was a preserve, a refuge for large animals. The hunts were very limited and for very specific purposes using only honorable weapons. Our records show this has been true since launch, and was also true on the old Earth. Dishonorable weapons actually caused animals on Earth to become extinct. It is hard to imagine an evil of that magnitude, but history has shown that to be true. Some species are gone forever, as they were lost on the old Earth. Can you imagine our descendants condition and the contempt they would feel toward us, if we hunted a species to extinction here on the Vanguard? I cannot fathom the loathing they would have for us if some species of animal was gone when they reach the Westerhuis Nine solar system and begin work on planet called Projima. All of life is interconnected, and Diana helps maintain that balance. We, as her servants, must keep that balance as well.”
Brinley chose her words carefully. “You have great knowledge of history and have a society code of duty. So are you in contact with the Central Planning Office? How does that work, since the CPO is directing the journey?”
The Artemis paused for a moment and gathered her thoughts. She looked a bit more anxious than before. “Of course, the Safari style hunts have not taken place for visitors from other habitats since the quarantine was established by the Central Planning Office. That was back in the Outbreak. We do have periodic contact with them, but our homeland is ours, and only Diana dictates what we do here. We answer the inquiries of the Central Planning Office and file the reports they request, but that has very little to do with our day to day existence here. Our goal is to maintain D Habitat and its entire splendor until arrival at Projima.”
“So you have no problems with the Roe?” Gretchen asked. “Or other infected animals?”
“The infectious animals that sometimes come into our homeland are dispatched quickly. The records show that there once were a few humans who were infected in our land as well, but that problem has not been seen for a long time. There is limited and strictly controlled trade with some Free Rangers, but that takes place outside of our habitat near one of the shuttle bays. Recently those Free Rangers have reported conflicts and strife, so we have shut down contact with them. They are not followers of Diana, and as such do not have hers and our protection.”
“Yet you allowed us here,” Brinley stated.
“You were not invited, but yes, the Longinus decided to spare you. He had the choice of saving you, or watching you dishonor yourselves and kill or injure our chimpanzee friends. He chose to protect the chimpanzees. It was a dilemma I am facing now as well.”
“What do you mean?” Brinley asked.
“You have not been relieved of your dishonorable weapons. That is not our way. Free choice must allow for both good and bad choices. To just banish
your weapons would not help to instill honor in your hearts, it would only prevent you from exercising the dishonor. We still have weapons lockers here with firearms; we just never choose to use them. The spear is the honorable weapon.”
“So what is to become of us?” Paul asked. “We came here looking to use the Fabrication and Reproduction, or is it Reproduction and Fabrication machinery? Anyway, we came here seeking to use that place to repair our tools and gear.”
The Artemis looked at Paul and considered his request. “It is a conundrum. Yes, it is a difficult choice for me. You are obviously hunters of a type, but you use dishonorable weapons. You are dishonored, yet you ask for help. Asking is honorable. You are on a quest, yet you chose to use a dishonorable weapon. You are strangers, yet you seek friendship and cooperation. I see honor and dishonor. I am torn like the lion pride tears a gazelle. My emotions are ripped in too many directions.”
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