“Lie flat, Christopher,” Joe forced Christopher flat to the ground with his hand containing a small white device. “Wear this gumshield, bite on this!” Joe bent over Christopher on one knee and forcibly inserted the gumshield into his mouth to save time and argument. Joe then stood up and faced outwards with Charlotte and Daniel as a protective triangle around Christopher’s prone form. Christopher could feel his wavering senses returning to normal. He could see clearly again. The gumshield protected his teeth and was also a breathing filter and antidote to the Zarnha drug that each of them were using to counter the effects of the drug cloud.
Omeyn MuneMei took position at the high point of the ridge, Haruka standing a few yards to the left and rear. Omeyn MuneMei approved of Haruka’s style. She always had good ideas ready to offer if requested and showed appropriate respect. The Zarnha troops were descending on the Gayans now. Of course they thought it was an abduction of earthly humans as was their normal practice and that the overwhelming scale of their force was some kind of honour guard for this occasion when their Omeyn was here in person. Their objective was to immobilise their prey and then remove them back to their craft to be spirited away. They were equipped with projectile and lance narcotic delivery tools so they could either shoot from range or jab their victims close in. Halfway down the slopes of the shallow bowl the majority of the Zarnha force stopped to form a perimeter and six Zarnha moved forward with their short dark dart guns. They came to confront the side facing Daniel and Joe, raised and fired. Bright white sparks deflected the darts from the weaving figures of the Gayans as their ripallos detected the incoming projectiles and brushed them off course. The Zarnha gun crew stared at their weapons in mystification. Omeyn MuneMei looked on in satisfaction; these people were clearly identified now as the Gayan agents, recognisable from their tactics in previous encounters.
The three Gayans and their solely-soul companion were on their toes now with heightened anticipation. The Zarnha were confused, they had expected their dart weapons to leave the group slumped inanimate on the ground. Twenty or so additional Zarnha moved forward with a collection of yard-long stabbing lances called Ixwa that could deliver tranquilliser from their points as well as being good fighting staves close in. The Gayans and the Omeyn both knew that the projectile darts were wasted effort and Omeyn MuneMei observed with more interest, leaning forward slightly to ensure best view of her troops approaching the Gayans.
Charlotte, Joe and Daniel were each facing off six or so Zarnha in their particular third of the perimeter. The Zarnha were indeed ominous close up, losing their human aspects in their dark suits and gross insect-like helmets. At the bottom of the shallow bowl the Zarnha were approaching on fairly flat ground covered in the soft turf of the summer meadow. They were as tall as the Gayans but thinner and clearly believed in the effectiveness of their weapons as they pushed them out to encircle the Gayans with their points. The Gayans were moving slowly now, feet planted, watching carefully as the points approaching them wavered, deciding which were going to be the most aggressive. Their throats had dried as their endocrine system prepared for battle. Their martial music was building to crescendo in their minds. They were animals ready to strike, lionesses surrounded by hyenas.
The first probing points approached the three Gayans. Daniel let out a growling bark and darted forward to grab the nearest point and wrest it from its surprised owner. The next Zarnha tried to stab Daniel as his attention was on jabbing back at his first attacker. Daniel felt but did not see Duncan communicating the danger to his left side of the second attack. That attacking Zarnha was amazed that his point was deflected as Duncan took control of Daniel’s actions briefly to turn his shoulder away from the thrust that he could not possibly see. Daniel smiled wryly as he saw the point stab empty air where Duncan had just rotated his shoulder unbidden out of harm’s way. Daniel reversed his Ixwa to fell the surprised Zarnha behind him and fought on. Duncan flitted between the three fighting Gayans, adjusting their bodies in motion to avoid flurries of attacks in the melee beyond their immediate attention. All three Gayans now sported Ixwa stolen from their attackers; Joe had turned his and stabbed one Zarnha, who was now flat insensate on the ground. Charlotte was holding hers in the middle so she could strike whirling blows to both sides as the attack came in from the Zarnha desperate to overwhelm the group as quickly as possible to impress their Omeyn.
All three Gayans were snarling now, Charlotte’s alto blending with Joe and Daniel’s tenor growls in a chorus of aggression. Duncan was with them in the limbic systems of their consciousness, sparking off volleys of evasive manoeuvres when necessary and howling along with them inside their minds. This released a rapture of endorphin and adrenaline cocktails in the three Gayans, driving their strikes instinctively in flurries. Metallic clacks were blending together in a frenzy of blows as the three, in a protective ring over Christopher, fought the horde pressing in on them. At the clearing’s edge Stephen could see the ominous figure of Omeyn MuneMei and could hear the terrifying cacophony of the Gayans in combat and the manyfold strikes and echoes of the Ixwas of the combatants. He could not imagine how his few friends could hold out for so long against so many fearsome enemies.
In the thick of the conflict Christopher marvelled that he remained uninjured. He was in the eye of the hurricane, frenzied motion all around. Then he noted something new as he looked up through the limbs of the struggling combatants. The ground around their crater was rising up from the adjacent depressions on four sides. The neighbouring craters were flattening out and then bulging up as if something were hatching from their insides. The land thrust up on the four adjacent craters as if it were hinged to one side like enormous manhole covers. The light covering of topsoil slid off the unwettable surfaces underneath as the plane hinged up several yards above the central crater’s rim. A light rain of dust and stones fell from the highest edges as a yellow light came on from inside. Figures were moving there in the core of the light, visible as darker shapes against the low light casting their shadows out through the dust falling from the slopes of the four Gayan craft emerging from the ground.
In the bottom of the bowl crater, Christopher was so nearly overwhelmed sensorily that it took a while for it to dawn that a new event was occurring behind the crowd of aliens occupying his entire field of vision surrounding the rising slopes of the crater. In the space vacated by the descending Zarnha, Omeyn MuneMei was stepping down where the rim of earth met the deepening rose light of evening. Behind the ground was rising up in the neighbouring craters at four polar locations next to the one they were trapped at the bottom of. The dusk light was being suffused with the brown of sifting dust clouds so that he could barely see the ground rising up in four equally spaced blocks moving up like long wedges that merged into the sky above the rim of their own depression. The brown fog was rising on all sides behind the alien figures that were pressing in on their small group.
The ground slanting up on four sides behind the depression rim contained the Cavallos of Dawn spacecraft Maria, Theresa, Sant’Ana and Clara, each with a full complement of twenty Cavallos, warriors of Dawn brought to this place for this encounter by Rafaello and Umberto. Joe was relieved to see them and was smiling now, “Dawn not always outnumbered by Zarnha you know!” he declared delightedly to Charlotte and Daniel who were returning his broad grin.
The Zarnha had slowed their attack and were casting indecisive looks behind as well as toward their intended victims. The rumbling that had accompanied the uplift of the ground around the crater rim merged with the introduction of a deep base drumbeat with overtones of distant bells, the first tantalising chords to the anthem of planet Gaya playing from the four Cavallo ships in unison. Violet and white threads were sparking through the brown dust clouds now and then points of light like stars started to appear on all sides behind the encroaching Zarnha. These were the campaign emblems attached to the robes of the Cavallos that were emerging from their ships. The Cavallos spacecraf
t had risen up from where they had been sunk and covered, lying in wait in the depressions in the ground around the one where the drama now unfolded. The Cavallos’ emblems were carried with pride on their combat cloaks and declared where they had individually performed with distinction in past campaigns.
The martial music of Gaya gathered force on all sides projecting from the Cavallos’ craft into the mob in the crater. Christopher was filled with it and it seemed that his three mysterious friends were standing taller over him, growing in confidence and determination with their anthem.
The dust clouds thinned as the Cavallo ships settled from their impressive appearance. The Cavallo warriors ranged all around were ominously revealed hoods first as the dust lowered to reveal the shoulders then chests of their cloaks. They formed a concentric perimeter all about the Zarnha agents in black who were ranged in disarray halfway down the slopes. The Cavallos emerged from the brown dust as the violet crackling filaments subsided to show the points of light across the Cavallos’ chests and shoulders. They surrounded the rim of Christopher’s fast-changing, confused world. He had no idea what was now occurring, only that the aliens that had seemed so threatening a moment ago were now distracted and forming up as if to defend themselves from the new arrivals above. As he watched through the legs of his three friends he detected that the surrounding force was moving with the thumping music of Gaya, swaying slowly and powerfully.
The hooded Cavallos emerged further from the dusk and they raised their fists in harmony with their martial moves to display the staves they called Vorarms, which had been held end-on so they could not be seen by their enemy as they emerged in the murk. The staves were all different shapes and lengths, like bone-coloured extensions of the arms of the hooded Cavallos. Some of them rapped their staves together in beat with the thumping music coming from their ships behind them.
These Vorarms were made of the Ivory Vine of planet Gaya, the first choice weapons of the Cavallos. Stronger than twisted steel filaments and a fraction of the weight, these had been grown to fit the physique and fighting style of each Cavallo personally from a live Ivory Vine back on Gaya. Certain Cavallos preferred a diminutive extension with a nobkerry ending, others a more dramatic crab claw and all variations between. Two of the surrounding Cavallos stood forward and Rafaello waved his colleagues down the slope to engage with the Zarnha. The Zarnha started firing their projectile weapons at the Cavallos. Joe, Charlotte and Daniel continued to perform the elaborate evasive manoeuvres that allowed their ripallos to deflect any accurate shots coming their way with deflecting sparks and flashes. Very quickly these weapons became ineffective as the two forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The Ivory-Vine staves, the Vorarms of the Cavallos, wove intricate patterns in the air as they engaged the Ixwa of the Zarnha troops then cracked into their helmets and bodies. The Zarnha were now the ones fighting on two fronts. A ring of struggling thin black bodies pressed on all sides by the brown-robed Cavallos, unaffected by the drugged air that was filtered by their gumshields. Joe, Charlotte and Daniel fought on in the centre of the melee, bringing down the confused Zarnha that were still facing them at the bottom centre of the crater.
Omeyn MuneMei stared on with Haruka. They had no escape. Their vessel was standing off way back over the trees, outgunned by the four Cavallo craft on the ground.
instructed Omeyn MuneMei repeatedly to her troops even as they fell before the Gayans in waves. The Zarnha were aware even in their distress there was no surrender under the scrutiny of Omeyn MuneMei. They fought on until the last few were rendered senseless or were too injured to struggle on. At that point the emotional fire of battle expired and the Zarnha were reduced to a mat of prone tangled figures, feebly moving a limb here and there as their injuries dictated.
Haruka perceived Omeyn MuneMei demanding,
In the silence, Christopher was the first to speak up in a small voice, “You saved me.” He sounded surprised. In his mind he recalled the small occasions where Joe had left him unaided when he had wanted help as they grew up even though he recognised his own weaknesses in the times he had remained passive. This all felt small-minded now as his friends had battled like titans over his prone form to protect him and he had emerged unscathed.
“Of course, Chris,” Joe replied to the dazed surprise in Christopher’s voice. “What did you expect?” Christopher stared around not trusting that he was safe as yet.
Daniel surveyed the field of fallen Zarnha, “What do you want to do with all these, Joe?” He swept an arm over the fallen Zarnha agents.
“I know what we should do according to the treaty. But we still have the crime of Kyra’s imprisonment to address.”
“Uh oh,” said Charlotte. She knew Joe was capable of any decision in the face of unfair aggression against his wife. It could be argued that serious sanctions would be appropriate but those would likely be beyond the civilised limits of Gayan reason. She had her own personal reasons to also dramatically address Kyra’s abduction beyond her previous failure to rescue her on Joe’s previous mission to Braganza.
Joe helped the bewildered Christopher to his feet. “We owe you a bit of an explanation, Chris,” he said mildly. “What went on here is what we were sent here to do but even for us these are extreme circumstances. Try to hold your questions for now then we will make it become clear.” Joe then turned and strode through the fallen Zarnha up to Rafaello and Umberto who were waiting for instructions.
“Nice of you to show up, Rafaello, Umberto. Could you have waited a little longer do you think?”
“Ah, you may be having the good point there, Keeran,” admitted Rafaello ruefully, using Joe’s Gayan name. “We were having some debates on best timing. Umberto thought you would want to catch them all. I respected your ability to draw them down to you and keep them busy while we made safe perimeter.”
“I suppose that your arrival could be described as perfect timing though at least one of us down there was petrified,” Keeran replied.
“All is well that is ending well is what we say, Keeran,” beamed Rafaello. “But tell me what happens now?” Rafaello looked round the prone forms littered around the crater with uncertainty.
“What happens now my friend is that we bundle all these Spargar together into the holds of the other three Cavallo craft and then we take them to an Earth-class planet with no human civilisation far from anywhere and then we dump them there.”
“Interesting idea as far as it goes, Keeran,” Rafaello observed. “I can find a beautiful planet, an unspoilt Eden, only occupied by terrifying monsters to keep our guests occupied until they evolve into a space-age society, or we come back for them.”
“Precisely, Rafaello. And we will only return for them once they release Kyra and return her safely.”
“Unofficially, that would be a very reasonable result, I am thinking. I am not thinking officially as I doubt we would get Worder sanction for this plan. I will delete the records from the flight computers and leave details to you, my friend. I just organise the transport. Just driving the bus where you tell me to go!”
“Then I will need transport back to Gaya with you on the Maria. We now have to move fast to finish our mission while these Zarnha are out of the way and we get the chance to complete our work.” Joe looked towards Daniel and Charlotte tidying themselves up and Christopher collecting his wits in the aftermath of the battle at the base of the crater. “Anyway, firstly can you round up the Zarnha and get them in the other three ships?” Keeran set off back to his friends below and Rafaello organised his troops to raise the slumped Zarnha and shift them into the Theresa, Sant’Ana and Clara. This left him with the problem of how to deal with Omeyn MuneMei and Har
uka, who were observing him on their own, separate from the Gayans and their fallen Zarnha.
Rafaello approached Omeyn MuneMei with Umberto for reassurance. Omeyn MuneMei was concerned they may approach too closely and delivered warning commands,
Rafaello stopped, facing the two black-helmeted figures controlling the Zarnha troops. He waved in the general direction of himself and Umberto, “We… are the esteemed Pantucci brothers, Cavallos of Gaya, and you are our highly valued captives.”
Rafaello thought about that briefly. “We can have an arrangement if you like,” Rafaello raised a finger in the air inspirationally. “We will not have to physically escort you both aboard the Sant’Ana if you promptly head over there and incarcerate yourselves without further insistence.” The two cloaked figures considered that for a moment then turned indecisively to where Rafaello was pointing to the load deck into the nearest Gayan craft. “Now!” Rafaello exclaimed as they slowly turned back and Omeyn MuneMei and Haruka shuffled off onto the ramp of Sant’Ana’s load deck.
The dust clouds raised initially by the spacecraft had subsided now and the soft pastels of a late evening prolonged sunset subtlely illuminated the scene. Joe rejoined the small group of friends at the base of the crater as the other Cavallos were corralling the downed Zarnha and martialling them towards the spacecraft at the crater’s rim.
Star Matters Page 38