by J W Murison
‘I wish for my objections to be recorded and sent to the supreme commander before battle commences sir.’
‘That is your right.’ The commander snarled with frustration and turned to one of his officers, ‘do it.’
It only took a few minutes, ‘that’s his objections recorded, sent and I have a conformation that they have received the message sir.’
The commander snapped back to Orlath, ‘get off my bridge.’
‘Thank you sir,’ he bowed and turned away.
They got back to the business of fighting a battle. Orlath however never returned to his quarters, instead he wound his way to an aft escape pod and got in. It reacted to his presence. ‘Stand by,’ he ordered the pod and it answered with a couple of bleeps. All he had to do now was wait.
Of course his disgrace was supposed to be kept a secret but it had to be the worst kept secret in the history of the Albany Race. It had all began when he was a child. His father had been posted to head up the human research facility on their planet. He had been an only child and there were no other children on the secret base. One birthday his father had brought him a pet. A human girl child about the same age as himself.
At first she had screamed until his father had beat her. At nights she sobbed in the corner on a blanket and was unresponsive. After a few days though she began to become curious and seemed to be watching him. He didn’t really know what to do with it at first. She was violently sick when she tried to eat grass and it wasn’t until his father began feeding her the worm meal that he fed to the captives that she began to stop being sick and take more notice of her surroundings. It had taken only a few hours to house train her and even his father was impressed by that.
He remembered her first winter. She had been lying on her blanket with her teeth chattering she was so cold. He had called her up to the bed and she had slid under the warm covers. They spent hours babbling away at one another in the way children do and the memory brought a smile to his face. She was able to mimic his sounds quite quickly, but he had a lot of problems with hers. Still it was fun and whittled away the hours. He hated bathing but she loved it. What he did enjoy doing was brushing the tangles out of her long blond hair.
Within a year she could understand most of what he was saying and could make herself understood to him. His father ignored it and even became violent when she tried to communicate with him. It was a lesson quickly learned and they hid her growing knowledge. She could even read a little and memories of her own people faded fast.
His own people became used to the sight of him with his strange pet. They would take long walks, run through the grass. Swim in the rivers and climb the hills together. She grew strong and fast, but he was always faster. She was more nimble though and her dexterity far outstripped his.
The trouble began when they reached their teens and began to mature. She began to bleed every month, which caused quite some consternation in the house hold but they soon got used to it. She always seemed to be in pain at that time and would shy away from him. Her body also changed and he admired her growing breasts. He thought they were a work of art compared to the females of his own race. A few weeks after his fifteenth birthday he experienced his first rut. A mate would be chosen for him when he reached the age of twenty. Until then it was up to him to get control of his desires and emotions.
That first rut wasn’t too bad and he coped with it well. Between the first and the second six months later his body underwent a drastic change. At night she would rub his new muscle and croon in his ear. The second rut took him completely by surprise. He could not believe the agony. He had no idea how it happened. When she had came to her monthly bleed, the smell of her blood had been too much for him to bear. He had taken her. Her reaction had shocked him. She screamed every time he came near and he knew he had hurt her. A thousand apologies and every titbit that she liked eventually calmed her down, but it was two months before she crawled back into his bed.
When his next rut came he banished her to her blanket on the floor as he dealt with the agonies. She would lie and watch him, eyes wide with fear. She knew now what was happening. Over the period of the first week she lay there and watched him. On the second she climbed back into his bed. The look in her eyes was different. There was still fear yes, but there was more. Her soft words calmed him a little. She still cried out when he took her but he was far gentler this time. By the time the rut was over she could even open her eyes.
His biggest surprise came a few short months later when she reached for him one night under the covers. The biggest shock was when his body responded. They became eager lovers and a voyage of discovery began. The ruts began to pass without him even noticing. It just made their love all the more intense and enjoyable.
Home schooled from necessity, he easily passed the entrance exams for university and at eighteen years left home for the first time. His father promised he wouldn’t remove his pet and he returned home every other weekend. He had majored in political science and his life was good. It all began to change during his summer holidays. By the time he returned to university she was being violently sick day and night. His father had promised to take her to the vet at the institute. It was the last time he would ever see her. A few weeks later his father informed him that she had died of a mysterious illness. He was devastated and almost flunked his exams. He rallied enough to pass, but it was a very low pass.
The dynamics at home changed as well. His parents had become very standoffish. His mother was also acting strangely. Every time he returned home it was to find brand new sheets on his new bed. His old one had disappeared without explanation. His father took him to work at the facility. A graduate of political science became a zoo keeper. His job to clean out the cages of the animals. His work mates sneered at him and he found himself very much alone.
His mother and father chose a mate for him from well below their social standing. The first rut went well enough and they mated for the full fortnight. A few weeks later he was ready to begin mating again. His new wife was shocked and complained. Over the months his attempts to change her views resulted in her becoming repulsed by his very presence. When the second rut came she refused him. His frustration turned to rage and he beat her. The divorce was swift. A rarity amongst their race, and also a source of great distress and disgrace to his parents. He began to become withdrawn.
A small room was found for him at the facility and he began to spend more time there. Over the months he began to learn about the humans and their purpose. Rumour told of a new solar system, a deadly one that these creatures came from. Wealthy beyond belief and a planet inhabited by lowly meat eaters. For generations they had been trying to devise some kind of serum from these captives and despite generations of research it was only recently that they had had a major breakthrough.
When the serum was perfected the truth slowly became known. It was a callous worker that informed him of the scandal. Of a child who had a human as a pet and had mated with her. The results had been a child, a genetic bridge between the two races. Of course everyone knew there had only ever been one child with a human pet.
He had marched straight up to his father’s office. He remembered the cold eyes of his father as he confronted him. He had sat quietly for a few minutes before answering.
‘Son I love you yet I loath you. You have brought nothing but shame on our family. Yet with that shame you have also gave us fame and wealth. Because of your perversions we were able to build a bridge between the human DNA and ours. You’re right, she didn’t die of a mysterious illness. We killed her and the child. Not that it would have been born anyway. Six months we were able to keep it alive. In that six months it gestated enough to provide that solid link between our two races. We were able to produce an enzyme that when given to a human will bond to their DNA. When harvested they can produce serum for thousands of our people. A serum that will enable us to survive in their solar system.’
His father got up and walked to a cabinet behind Orlath.
‘Did you know that your mother burns the sheets you sleep in after you stay?’ His father sighed. There was a click and then Orlath felt a sting on the back of his neck. ‘A final gift from your son. The last of the serum made from him and his mother.’
Orlath bellowed with rage and grief. For the first and last time in his life his father struck him. ‘Behave!’ He shouted Orlath down. ‘The serum will make you violently sick for a few days. Within a few weeks you muscle density should begin to change. You will no doubt put on a lot of weight. Relax. I have just guaranteed you a job for life. You will be going with the invasion fleet when it finally leaves. Maybe once you reach Earth you can find a purpose in life.’
His father sat down again and Orlath shook himself out of it. ‘Of course once across the great barrier I can never return. You will finally be rid of me.’
‘And the ongoing embarrassment you have caused our family. Maybe once you are gone we can remember the times when we felt you were our son. Go back to your animals.’
That was the last time he had spoken directly to his father. Ten years later he still hadn’t seen his mother, nor had she ever got in touch with him. Rumour was they had another child, a daughter. His father had been wrong, Orlath had never become sick. His change had been rapid. Within a few months he didn’t need the protective clothing when working with the humans. They became wary of his great strength, yet as time passed they became comfortable around him. He changed their lives. He quickly learned rudimentary communication. He fixed problems within the human community. His biggest success was recognising which humans wished to be with each other. He brought in fruits that his human mate had enjoyed and their health improved. As their health improved then so did the birth rate soar. His methods were so effective he travelled to other facility’s and sorted out problems they had. Yet no matter what he did his shame followed him like a dark cloud.
Now he was in a life pod waiting. Mesmerised by a blinking amber coloured light before him. He had done his duty. He had seen the recording of the human captain. The one they all said was a Modloch plant, a trick. What none had done was to filter out the captain’s voice and listen to those voices in the back ground. He was able to isolate a dozen voices and listen to them. They were human voices and he recognised many of the words, he could actually speak some of them. He had never pointed that out to his commander though. In fact he had been remiss on that part. He had objected just enough to do his duty, to be seen to be doing his duty. His parents couldn’t fault him for that. Albany history would show that he had at least tried to warn his own people. He also knew why he hadn’t brought his full findings forward.
Half a dozen men had held him down as his father had forced him to watch the processing of the humans. They had all been forced to bathe in a solution that had left them hairless and burned. Then they had been dragged ten at a time and thrown into a machine that was nothing more than a big blender. He would never forget the screams or the looks on their faces. With no companionship other than these people for ten years he had come to regard many as friends. Now he had nothing.
The ship lurched hard enough to shake him out of his reverie. He was shaken about inside the capsule as again and again the ship was struck by powerful weapons. It didn’t take long for the amber lights to turn red and warning claxons to blare. He reached for the release button. Her name had been Barbra but he could never pronounce the r. ‘Babaa,’ he whispered as he pressed the release button and was shot out of the dying battle cruiser in to hell itself.
Chapter 54
The jocks were laughing at the antics of the two men. The two were quite infamous in the battalion. They had been together since they were boy soldiers and best friends. It had been a gruelling day. It was now forty eight hours since the great battle of Saturn. Humanity had won a resounding victory and the Albany battle fleet had been smashed. The humans had only shown a small part of their fleet. The Albany had indeed tried to outflank them, but they had been ready. The moment the enemy had sprung their trap the humans had sprung theirs. The human fleet had starburst on the appearance of the flanking units and seconds later their main fleet smashed into the rear of the enemy cube. When the flanking force tried to engage, the reformed unit reappeared and smashed into the rear of them. It was then that the humans’ unleashed freighters full of tanks and artillery units.
Sown like black seed amongst the stars two hundred thousand guns joined the battle. In groups of thousands they engaged the enemy fleet. Lightly protected the enemy guns took a heavy toll of these units, yet the enemy ships quickly fell to the power of thousands of guns being brought to bear on them in an instant. They forced the Albany ships into a tight square and slaughtered them. A single battle group now pursued a half dozen ships that had managed to escape.
The men were all suited up and armed, yet their mission was to rescue as many Albany as they could. Their whole battalion was engaged on this duty. Thousands of lifeboats had been launched during the battle and it was their task to rescue them. The only problem was the Albany had proved hostile to being rescued when they realised who was doing the rescuing. As soon as they recognised who their rescuers were the bawling and lowing would start. They would become agitated then violent. A few had even been armed and it had led to loss of life.
Everyman was sick of it. The inclination to blast the life pods apart had been too much of a temptation for some. These men however had slowly developed a technique for handling them. The moment they showed signs of distress they simply used their rifles to stun the Albany. A man would take a limb apiece and throw him to the ground while another two would hold the plastic ties to bind them. Despite having down to a fine art it was no guarantee of not getting hurt or struck by a thrashing captive.
It had been almost two hours since they had found a pod and they were due to return soon. ‘I have a weak signal amongst some wreckage, stand by.’ There was a communal groan at the announcement from the pilot.
‘You’re up Charlie.’
‘Piss off Eddie.’
The sergeant swung a fist that connected with Charlie’s shoulder. ‘Stop pissing around private.’
That brought a gale of laughter from the troops. Charlie had been busted a few weeks before saving Eddies hide from an English military policeman who had been intent on bashing Eddie’s skull in with a night stick. The fight had started when some English Paras had started on a group of jocks in the communal mess. Charlie sensing something wrong, had arrived in time to see Eddie getting a beating. He had punched out the English MP and dragged Eddie away to safety. It was unfortunate that Charlie had been identified and Eddie hadn’t. Now Eddie had his job and Charlie had been busted back to private.
Charlie scowled at Eddie, ‘you know I’m going to beat you half to death very shortly don’t you.’
Eddie stood up, ‘let’s just get the job done arse wipe.’ With a sigh Charlie got to his feet.
‘You’re going to need cutting gear for this one,’ the pilot announced.
Always a team the two men grabbed the equipment. When the doors opened they couldn’t see the pod. The navigator directed them to it through the wreckage. Lines of strong white thread wound out behind them. Charlie saw it first. ‘There it is Eddie. It looks pretty bashed up.’
Eddie saw the pod, ‘what do you think Charlie, is the thing wasted?’
Charlie struggled through the debris and knocked on the pod. A few seconds later there was an answering knock. ‘Nope, whatever is in there is alive.’
Eddie groaned.
It took them an hour to cut the pod free and manoeuvre it through the wreckage to the waiting landing craft. ‘Stand by.’ Eddie ordered his jocks. They tensed. The pod door only half opened and a couple of jocks helped it. The Albany inside stepped out. Eddie groaned, ‘look at the size of this bugger. Get ready.’ Then the Albany did the strangest thing, he bowed. It caught everyone off guard. What he did next shocked them to their core.
‘Thank you.’ Orlath managed. He could see the shoc
k register through the visors of his captors and it pleased him. His damaged pod had been able to supply him with heat but nothing else. Orlath raised his hand to his mouth slowly, ‘do you have any wata please?’
Eddie nudged Charlie, ‘did that thing just thank us for saving its life and ask for a drink of water?’
Charlie ignored him, ‘please take a seat.’
Orlath looked round and sat on the nearest seat. Charlie grabbed a full bottle of water and took the top off it. He handed it to Orlath who took a sniff then downed the whole bottle. ‘Thank you.’ He sighed.
‘It’s OK, my pleasure.’
Charlie pulled Eddie to the side, we need to get in touch with the CO. ‘Go see the pilot.’
Charlie went through to the flight deck and spoke to the communications officer, ‘I need to get in touch with our CO.’
It took about five minutes of threatening before the Commanding Officer came on, ‘this had better be good Murison or I’m going to come over there and boot your arse again.’
Charlie found himself grinning despite being demoted by the man a few short weeks before, ‘got something special for you sir.’
‘Fire away then.’
‘We just took in an emergency pod. The Albany gets out, bows, thanks us for saving his life and then asks for a drink of water.’
There was a slight pause, ‘maybe he is an officer and better bred that those we have been finding.’
‘Aye yer no getting the right picture sir. All our translators are bust, this guy not only understands English but is speaking it as well.’
There was a moment’s shocked silence, ‘return to base with him now and tell your operator to put me through to the pilot.’
Chapter 55
Major Joe Simmons had been an army helicopter pilot before he volunteered to join the Earths Defence Forces. His navigator Derica Roth had been with the German armed forces. Both stared out of the large windscreen before them. They were surrounded by debris. Small pieces were deflected by their shields and every now and then a frozen body would shatter against it. Both had been violently sick a number of times the first day. It was a horror the troops they carried in the back had been spared. The whole flight crew was exhausted.