“Run! Get us away!” Lyudmila said and needlessly kicked her heels into the horse’s flanks.
A house to the side, across from the mill exploded in a shower of white fragments. A purple sphere was standing next to it. The detonation echoed off the other buildings, but then they too started to explode. The white blasts were strange and stung Lyudmila’s eyes as she looked at them. It was only for a moment as the horse raced away and dodged between the few obstacles in its way. It leaped up and over a fence which had held pigs in a pen. Landing on the other side, it stretched out its front legs and ran as fast as it could.
Looking back, Lyudmila saw the last of the buildings, the church; explode in a shower of the strange white things. The village was only a few mounds of rubble now, and the mill was melted down to the ground. She saw no signs of life anywhere.
“Mother, I must warn mother,” Lyudmila said.
The horse was headed in the right direction, but Lyudmila feared for her family. She feared for her people. She feared for everything. The hooves of the horse pounded the roadway and it ran full out.
The multiceiver lit up as it slapped up and down on her thigh.
A woman’s face appeared on the display screen. The woman had icy intense blue eyes, and light blond hair in a neat and tidy braid.
“This is Larissa. I saw what happened.”
Lyudmila grabbed the multiceiver with one hand, and nearly fell from the wildly running horse. She toggled the switch and grabbed the mane again. She began to speak, “What is happening? Where is the Constable? The Governor?”
Larissa answered calmly, but firmly, “I have not been able to contact the Governor of C Habitat, nor the Constable. Yours seems to be the only multiceiver in operation in C Habitat.”
“There were several in the wagon, and my father has one… oh my father…” Lyudmila cried.
“Your father was the man who put out the signal showing the Jellie’s attacking?” Larissa asked in a gentle way.
“Jellies? My father was killed by some rusalka monster. They are killing everything! I must get to my family!”
“I will keep this link open. Yes, go to your family, but I will stay here and be with you,” Larissa said. She also spoke something to someone else behind her, but Lyudmila missed that.
The horse ran onward, and Lyudmila was able to steer it toward her home. As it raced up the road she saw smoke pouring from the ruins of what had been her house. There was a sphere squatting in front of the house pulling some of the charred remains away. As it pulled it sprayed a white substance which extinguished the flames, but also seemed to fragment the wooden remains of the cottage.
“My home?”
“Can you point the multiceiver so I can see what is happening?” Larissa asked.
Lyudmila pulled hard on the horse’s reins, but it had already seen the purple sphere as it sprouted four legs and stood up.
“They have killed my family too!” Lyudmila cried out.
“Show me what you see,” Larissa said.
Lyudmila was able to point the multiceiver for a moment, but then the horse dodged quickly to the side as a white ball flew toward them and exploded in the roadway. The horse had moved before the ball had erupted from the side of the sphere. The horse then turned and leaped over the drainage ditch along the side of the road and bolted forward rushing past where the sphere was. They passing the ruined cottage as Lyudmila hung on with every ounce of strength she had. The horse then turned and darted up a cow path into a field and across to flee behind a copse of trees.
“That was another Jellie. Flee from it!” Larissa commanded. “You are in no position to engage the enemy.”
The trees in the copse were blasted to tiny bits as several of the white balls struck them. The horse and rider were not injured, although leaves and twigs flew in all directions.
“My grandparents!” Lyudmila said in worry and horror. She yanked hard on the horse’s reins and the bit pulled at its mouth enough for the horse to come under a small amount of control. It still ran heavily, but its chest was frothy with sweat as was the area under where Lyudmila sat. She steered it back to the road, a good distance away from her now ruined childhood home, and headed toward her grandparents.
The horse slowed from a panicked run into a cantor which had a more manageable and sustainable pace.
“I will be at my grandparents in moments, I must cut back to get near the river. They will know what to do,” Lyudmila said.
“That is a good plan,” Larissa answered through the multiceiver. “I am with you. I am still trying to contact anyone else in C Habitat to assist you, what is your name?”
“Are you with the CPO?” Lyudmila asked.
“I was Constable and Governor of the Wilds,” Larissa answered.
“You are not here in the Woods?” Lyudmila said with fear. “I thought you were someone from Penza or somewhere closer.”
The horse continued its cantor and was breathing very heavily. His lungs were billowing back and forth. The sweat was sticky and thick.
“Slow down,” Lyudmila commanded and pulled back on the reins. She knew if the horse died under her she would lose what little advantage she had in escaping the killing things. Somehow the horse was able to anticipate the attacks from the monsters.
The horse finally pulled to a fast walk, but was still agitated and nervous. He flicked his head back and forth and fought at the bit.
“Lyudmila, tell me more about what you have seen. I have not been able to see all that has happened,” Larissa said.
“The mill is gone. My father and all the others are dead. My mother and my whole family were killed,” Lyudmila reported in a cold and factual manner. It sounded odd to her ears, almost as if someone else was telling her story, yet it was her voice that spoke. “My grandparents will know what to do.”
The horse walked briskly along the cow paths and ruts in the fields. He seemed to be getting a slight bit calmer as he walked. He was still breathing heavily and the noise of his breathing was rhythmic.
“How much farther do you have to go?” Larissa asked.
“Their home is along the river, and that is up ahead. Oh how can I be so dense? The river!” Lyudmila cried in anguish. “Those things came from the river!” She nearly kicked the horse into a run again, but knew the animal might die if she did so. Lyudmila wrestled with what to do.
The horse passed a small grove of fruit trees and she turned him to progress toward her destination. She knew the land intimately, yet she could not see the cottage where her grandparents lived. The trees were where she knew they should be, but the cottage was not visible.
“Move along!” she kicked the horse in the flanks as her mind ran through what she feared. She could hold back the anxiety no longer and if the horse died, then so be it. he had to reach her grandparent’s home.
The horse responded, a bit slower than she hoped, but breathing heavily he galloped again.
The remains of the cottage were nearly obscured by how flat they were. The tended gardens and flower beds were all shattered. A layer of white slime resided over the ruins and they were still sinking under that melting or dissolving power. She recognized the place, but it was so devastated and so different she wondered if it could really be happening. Then she saw the pond.
“Grandmother!” Lyudmila screamed as she saw the body near the animal stock pond. The pond was a bit away from the cottage, and further from the river. She rode to it quickly and in shock and horror.
Dropping the reins and sliding off the horse, Lyudmila fell into the mud as her legs shook and trembled. The horse dropped its head and tried to drink from the pond, but pulled back his head quickly with a snort.
Regaining her feet, Lyudmila stumbled over to the body.
“Grandmother? Grandfather?”
As she looked down on what was there, she knew neither of her grandparents would ever reply to her again. Floating in the pond were the dismembered remains of both grandparents.
“
You must get away,” Larissa said, her voice coming from the multiceiver hanging on Lyudmila’s belt. “The Jellies may still be around. I have found a way to get you out of there.”
Lyudmila stood looking down at the body parts and the deep red colors swirling in the water of the pond.
“You are in danger, but you can escape. I will guide you away from there,” Larissa said again. This time she was more forceful. “If you stay you will not help yourself or anyone else.”
The horse stepped over and nudged Lyudmila with its nose. The nudge was not subtle or gentle. She stumbled a few steps and looked back.
“You cannot drink easily with the bit in your mouth,” Lyudmila said as she focused on the horse’s mouth. It was frothy. Her mind was numb.
She reached up and unhooked the bridle and let it fall off the horse. There was still a light weight halter on the horse’s head. He turned but refused to drink from the pond. Lyudmila started to unbuckle the harness and let it fall off. She refashioned the reins to connect to the halter, and stroked the side of the horse as it looked around seeking somewhere else to drink.
Lyudmila spotted a water pipe and spigot which was still intact. It was off a few paces from the ruins. She recalled her grandmother filling buckets from that spout to water her garden. Finding an overturned bucket, Lyudmila pulled up the handle on the spigot and filled it. Setting the bucket down, the horse drank its fill. Lyudmila tried to concentrate on the simple act of seeing the horse drink, but the grotesque scene around her was hard to ignore.
“You really need to leave!” Larissa said. “Mount the horse and flee. I have arranged for transportation to get you away, but you must reach this location.”
A map flashed on the multiceiver’s display.
“I understand. I will ride there soon, if you promise to help me.”
“Of course I will help you,” Larissa replied.
Looking back at the ruins of the cottage, and then the dead bodies of her grandparents, Lyudmila’s mind shifted. She said firmly, “I will break them like rotten eggs. I will break them all like rotten eggs.
4 Finding Brinley
Paul’s mind was groggy. He tried to blink his eyes, but it felt like too much effort so he drifted back to sleep.
A while later, he awoke, but was still tired. There was a buzzing and warm feeling on his chest. He placed his hand there and felt soft fur. He knew what it was, but was not pleased. The patrol cat predator was curled up in a ball on him. It was making a sound that the children had called purring.
With his hand he carefully pulled the cat off. Its body stretched out as it uncurled, but only temporarily. He set it to his side, but it rolled back up against him and nestled in again. In way it felt comfortable with the warmth on his side. The warmth on his chest had not dissipated, and he felt there again. This time he felt a metal disk that was warm.
“Diana is with you in the coming hunt,” Paul heard someone whisper. The words came from the medallion he was holding with his hand.
“Paul, are you here?” Gretchen asked in a sleepy voice.
Paul opened his eyes. It was very dim, but he could make out the outlines of a small apartment. It was not his Dome 17 apartment, nor was it the tent he had lived in on Inaccessible Island. It was not the barracks he had last slept in.
“Yes. I am here,” Paul reached out his hand and felt for Gretchen. “What happened to us?” His other hand was clutching the medallion, but now it felt no warmer than anything else. He shook his head to come fully awake.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
The multiceivers which were sitting nearby sounded an alarm.
Gretchen sat up and looked around. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. “The children did it to us again. They said something about us leaving, but that is the last thing I remember.”
“I have that medallion on my chest. I thought it was lost,” Paul said as he sat up.”
“That golden medallion with the spear engraved into it?” Gretchen laughed a bit. “So do I call you Longinus now?”
Paul mumbled, “Really funny stuff that. Me a mighty hunter. I do not like to think how I came to have this medallion. Remember that Sibat and Oda died.”
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Gretchen switched on a fusion pack light and reached for the multiceiver. The light revealed more about the small apartment. It consisted of a bed, a set of shelves built into the wall, sink and toileting area. Their equipment was stacked on the shelves in neat rows.
Gretchen stretched her legs as she stood up, multiceiver in hand. She toggled the switch on and the display lit up.
“Gretchen!” Brinley’s cheerful and pretty face appeared on the display. “I just saw that your multiceiver is now active again. Where have you been? I have been trying to find you, but received no signal at all. It looks like I am not far from your location. Please stay where you are and keep the multiceiver activated.”
Paul reached for his own multiceiver and hit the button.
“Paulie! You are there as well. This is great. I will be there is a few moments. You should have told me you were traveling to find me.”
“Well, Brinley, we were not conscious of it,” Paul said. “Those strange children had us brought here.”
“Children? Irina, Rika, Martin and the triplets?” Brinley looked puzzled. “We are nowhere near where that place is located. But it never was clear where that was anyway. Are those children with you?”
“Not that I can see. We are in a small apartment, but I have no idea where. We just woke up,” Paul replied. He looked at the pressure door which was the only exit from the apartment. “I honestly am not sure what happened.”
“Like I said, stay where you are, I have a strong signal from your multiceivers and will be there soon,” Brinley replied. “I will tell Larissa we have found you, but not where we expected.”
Paul unpacked a set of food rations whose origin he was unclear about. The other gear he also did not recall packing up. There were two of the Willie pistols, two small organic disruptors, two molecular saws, water supply containers, two fusion packs, two medical kits, and the multiceivers.
“We have everything here except the data sticks and their readers,” Paul commented. “Did you pack up all this gear?”
“Not I,” Gretchen replied. “I suspect those children arranged all that.”
“When they kicked us out of that garden of theirs. That is probably the only safe place on all the Vanguard and they threw us out. I am muddled in my thinking on all that has happened recently.”
“Paul, we do have all our equipment except Tiffany,” Gretchen commented. “Our multiceivers can connect us to each other, and have other direct tab links for Brinley and Larissa, and even have a switch for Dr. Chambers. But there is no Tiffany connection. What happened to the artificial intelligence system we brought here? Where is Tiffany’s Atomic Level Processor? Why are we separated? What happened to Tiffany?” Gretchen rubbed her eyes and then her neck.
“I do not know, but maybe it is because Tiffany failed us?” Paul remarked with a sneer. “I wonder if we really could have gone to one of those other colony ships?”
“You saw Janae just like I did. The Trailblazer sounded worse than here. Paul, did you want to go there?”
“No, but we had a lock on the Zubalamo which just disappeared. Tiffany never explained that. We could have escaped there,” Paul said, but there was some hesitation in his voice.
“Tiffany said that signal was lost, and I trust Tiffany. Paul there was no way to escape using teleportation,” Gretchen was firm.
“I am not so sure. I do know, I do not want to stay here, but we have no other options. So now I will eat. When Brinley comes maybe we can go back to Inaccessible Island or somewhere safer?”
“This place is secure. We have running water, food, supplies, and are behind solid permalloy walls. This is at least as safe as Dome 17 was, and we are together. That counts for a lot, I will never forget Janae’s eyes as she told us about Ken. Plus, remember
Paul, we have not seen any radiation or its horrible affects here on the Vanguard.”
“Not yet, anyway,” Paul replied as he took a bite of the food ration bar and sat back down on the bed. “There have been plenty of other weird things trying to kill us.”
“May I join you in this meal?” Gretchen asked. She took a food ration bar and sat down next to Paul.
After they ate, they washed up and waited.
“Paulie?” Brinley’s voice came from the multiceiver. “I am just down the hallway from where your signal originates.”
“Do you have a safe place to go?” Paul asked. “If I open this door will some Roe be waiting?”
“Paulie, the hall is clear and we are only a few minutes from a functional transport terminal. TSI-981 will get us back to where we have established a secure location. Do you want me to come up and knock on the door and then hold your hand?” There was a giggle in Brinley’s voice.
The Colony Ship Vanguard: The entire eight book series in one bundle Page 144