Battle On The Marathon

by John Thornton

Catching my glance, Commander Terrance answered my unasked question, “They are Mobile Energy Rocket Launchers. Our merls blast those bloody Jellie bombs out of the air. They get most of them, but the early days of this battle were terrible. That was when we lost so much of the biome to the Jellies.”

  Samuels spoke up, “They fire small rockets, and those rockets explode and send out energy waves which counteract the Jellie bombardments, right?”

  “Yes! Yes, that they do. Blasts those frozen bombs into tiny and harmless bits, high up in the sky. The bloody Jellies seem to have figured that out and they only launch a few bombs our way now and again. Maybe every day, or twice a day. It does tie up all these security automacubes, so we cannot make a counter-offensive and push the scum sucking beasties out of my homeland.”

  I then asked, “Commander Terrance? Do you have word about Kansas?”

  He turned and looked at me. “Son, is that your homeland?”

  “Yes, sir. Any word at all?”

  “We did get some refugees from there long ago, but nothing since then,” he replied.

  My face revealed by emotions, and he caught my look.

  “Son, they were only refugees because they got trapped here when the tube system was flooded. They knew nothing about any fighting or whatnot in Kansas. You can sure talk to them if you want to.”

  I looked to Lieutenant Gonzales.

  Commander Terrance interjected, “The scientists who are waiting for you are only a few blocks away, down at that big building near the lake. It once was a mill for grinding grain, but now is our ‘science academy’ as well as our watch tower for Big Lake. So, if your sergeant needs to go, he can easily find his way back here. The Kansas refugees are right in town.”

  She nodded at the commander, then turned to me. “Go Kalju. Just come and find us at that Big Lake place where the oceanographers are. I will deliver these shells to them.” She gestured at the wagon. “I also think any of the other Bilokos can take a bit of time off here in Tulgey Wood, if the Commander gives his approval. We have had a hard go of it, and some of my people really need to bathe!”

  “The town is pretty well packed full, but the Civic Auditorium does have showers set up and a buffet line. Your people are free to use that,” Commander Terrance stated. “Simple and basic food and some sleeping rooms.”

  “Tell my sergeant where to meet these people from Kansas, and then we will get these Jellie suits to the oceanographers. Kalju looks like he is about to jump out of his reactive armor,” Lieutenant Gonzales said with a smile.

  Commander Terrance described the house where he knew the family from Kansas was staying. I listened carefully, and then sprinted away as fast as I could. I regretted not asked about my militia friends, but all I was thinking about was our family. I rushed around the corner, and followed the simple directions I was given. Two streets over, and around another corner I reached a block of tenement houses and that was when I heard a voice I never thought I would hear again.

  “Kalju!”

  I looked up and there stepping out of an open doorway was a beautiful woman with flowing auburn hair.

  “Kalju! It is me! Lacey!”

  “My sister!” I was too thrilled to say anything more. My mouth hung open, and then she disappeared back into the doorway. I blinked my eyes, and shook my head. I seriously thought I was hallucinating.

  “Kalju!” the door burst open on the ground level, and that beautiful woman rushed out into the street. “How in the world?”

  “Lacey?” I stammered. The woman standing in front of me had ringlets of gorgeous hair falling to her waist and a soft and pretty face. Her slightly pouty lips and upturned nose did have a resemblance to the little girl I remembered, but here she was, a woman.

  “Oh, merciful glory, what happened to your face?” Lacey threw her arms about me, and pulled my head next to hers. That was the only part of me which was exposed. The reactive armor was between us otherwise.

  “I got wounded,” I stuttered, “a few different times, in fighting the Jellies.”

  She pulled back slightly and gently caressed my eyebrow scar. “My big brother, the battle-hardened soldier.” Tears were flowing down her face. “Now you have made me cry, you big oaf.”

  As I looked into her eyes and the upturned edges of her smile, I knew it really was my little sister, although she was not little any longer. She was probably about one-hundred-seventy-five centimeters tall, with a curvy but athletic frame. Dressed in a simple shirt and pants, I could tell she was an adult. I wondered where the years had gone.

  “Stop gawking and staring at me like you have seen a ghost or something. Come inside, and we must get you out of that armor so I can properly see my big brother. She then threw her arms around me again, and pulled me cheek to cheek. It felt so good to hold her, even though the armor was in the way.

  “I have no other clothing,” I murmured.

  “My husband has some spare…”

  “Husband?” I spewed out some spit as I was astounded. “Husband?”

  “Kalju, it has been years since you left Kansas. Come inside and let me get you some clothing, and we can discuss what has happened. You know about Ryan, right?”

  “Yes, mom and dad told me. But you got married?”

  “My husband and I met on a design team trying to figure out how to stop the Jellies from shelling places with their frozen artillery weapons. Now come inside,” she pulled me along and into the tenement. “We are on the second floor, and have a one bedroom flat.”

  I walked up the stairs with her and was trying to calculate how much time had passed since I left Kansas, and with the reactive armor’s systems being discombobulated, I was trying to do it in my head.

  The apartment was small, with two rooms, and an attached toileting area. One room was for sleeping, and the other was for everything else. It had the doorway to the outside deck. Lacey hustled into the bedroom and came back with a shirt, pants, underwear, and some sandals.

  I must have turned red, for she said to me, “Oh come on, I am your sister, but peal out of that armor. I will take a look at it while you clean up and put on these clothes. I can already see that some of the relays are fried while the others are obsolete models, which never did well in field tests.”

  I pulled the armor off, but kept my back to Lacey, and hesitated to remove the lower sections.

  “Kalju, I saw you naked in that lake by Dale’s place on more than one occasion, and you were never too shy then. Besides, you will need to wash anyway. You can use my gray-water ration for today.” She walked to the toileting area and entered a code sequence into a nine-section color control pad which was near the faucet and basin. Her eyes landed on my new arm. She tenderly reached out and took that hand and lifted it to her lips and kissed it. I felt loved so much, but I also really felt exposed and naked as I stepped from the reactive armor. The air circulating around me was different than that inside the armor, and my skin sort-of tingled and tickled all at the same time.

  “You know about reactive armor?” I asked as I passed it over to her.

  “Among other things, yes, I do. I specialize in lighter-than-air reconnaissance targeting platforms for the defensive systems. The merls use those for early detection and activation. We have those spread out all across Journey above the dams and dikes.”

  “Those security automacubes with the rockets?” I asked as I stepped into the bathroom, and partly slid the door out of its pocket and sort-of hid behind it while the basin filled up. “I saw bombardments myself. How are mom and dad? What has happened at home? You are married? What about Susie and Kristy? How did you get to Journey? You really are married?”

  “I am almost twenty now Kalju, and yes, I am married. Grant is my husband and we met while designing the defenses against what you call bombardments. I was recruited the year after you left, about the same time as Elav died. That dog was never the same after you left. You know you were Elav’s favorite, right?”

  “I hate it when dogs die.�
��

  “I understand,” Lacey answered. She paused for a while, and it became uncomfortable. Finally, she said, “My husband is named Grant. He is from Journey. I came here after the wedding, and that was when...”

  “When the Jellies flooded the tube transports?” I offered.

  “Sure, that was about that same time. We tried to contact you, Kalju. I wanted you at the wedding, but all we ever heard was ‘Kalju is not available for contact’ and that was the only sad part of the whole wedding.” There was a catch in her throat. I thought she was going to say more, but she did not.

  I stuck my head out of the bathroom, and she again looked at my new arm as it rested on the door frame. Glancing down at that I said, “Wounded a few times.”

  “I see that,” Lacey replied. She was working on my reactive armor on the small table. She had a set of precision tools out.

  Not knowing what else to say I added, “I wish I could have been at your wedding too. You were a beautiful bride, I am sure. I have tried to make connections with you so many times, but I never could. How are mom and dad? Our sisters?”

  She sniffled a bit. “I have not heard from anyone in Kansas since I got here. I almost said ‘was trapped here’ but that is not precise. I moved here with Grant, but could never go back. I honestly do not know what has happened in Kansas. Even being in research and development, neither Grant nor I can contact other biomes. The MC artificial intelligence systems scrutinize everything.”

  “MC001 is blocking you as well?” I asked.

  “MC001?” she laughed a bit, and it was delightful. “Now that is an obsolete system. That was the prototype for all the MC artificial intelligences. It stands for Military Computer, which goes back a couple hundred years to an antique term. Anyway, the MC line is now up to about three-hundred models, and some are getting miniaturized with their central memory cores being less than a meter high. Compactness, mobility, and agility is at a premium now.”

  “So, you do not know much else about mom and dad, and our sisters?”

  Lacey looked at me with her soft green eyes, “When I left, Kristy, Susie, mom and dad were getting by. Kristy and Susie were working in Colby in research and development of weapon systems. So, where have you been?”

  I finished washing and I did feel better. Grant’s clothes were a bit short in the sleeves and pants, but would do. Not knowing exactly what to say I just mumbled, “I have been in some battles.”

  “Obviously, you still have a gift for understatement. This is two generations old,” Lacey said as she assessed my armor. “It took some serious damage to its communication systems, not to mention the scores of physical impacts it has suffered. What did all this”

  Smiling at her I joked, “I fall down a lot.”

  “Still my funny big brother. Seriously, I have not even heard about damage like this. The Journey Jabberwocks do not seem to get hit with this kind of alien weapon. What happened?”

  I explained as best I could what had happened in Bread, and then I blurted out, “The Jellies can talk to us.”

  She dropped her probe and it clattered onto the armor and rolled off the table. As it hit the floor it clanked a few times. “What?”

  I related the message which had come through our communication system before it was all addled and busted up.

  “They told you, ‘Gas breathers die!’ and everyone in your unit heard that?” Lacey asked me.

  “Yes.” I then just rapidly explained all that had happened with the oceanographers Earle and Sylvia, and how the orcas had learned the Jellie’s language. I did not mention all my dead friends, even though I trusted Lacey. Those words just would not come out. I did tell her about the Jellie carapaces which we had brought and how Lieutenant Gonzales was delivering them.

  “Those two, Sylvia and Earle, would be the ones to make some breakthrough like that,” Lacey replied. “They have been in seclusion down by Big Lake. We all know they are down there, but none of us knew what they were doing exactly. This is very interesting, but as to you, big brother, have you eaten any real food? Grant is a pretty good chief, and even though we do have rations on food here, it is not all from suspended animation storage, nor is it recycled. I have some real pineapple, tomatoes, kohlrabi, and artichokes. Last night we grilled a bit of pork, and you can have what is left of that. I also have half of a loaf of rye bread.”

  Salvia literally was dripping from the corners of my mouth. I nodded enthusiastically.

  “Well, it is in the refrigerator, so help yourself. I want to make a few patches to your reactive armor’s systems. It might hold up better until you get replacements.”

  I spread out the food that she had, and only took a third of what I really wanted. What she had was excellent, but I still felt guilt taking food from my sister, when I knew times were hard for her. Still, the grilled pork, vegetables, pineapple, and bread were amazing. It might have just been being with my sister that made it all taste so very good.

  “I got one channel up and running on your reactive armor,” Lacey stated. “It is the weakest, and lest secured, but it also has the broadest frequency and, well, it was the only one that was repairable. You can both receive audio and send audio. Only while your helmet is on. The lufi amalgam power sources I added will give this worn-out old suit a bit of a reprieve. Here try them on.”

  I wiped the last remnant of food from my lips, and then licked my fingers. I looked at my sister and knew my time to depart was coming. “Lacey, I do not know what to say. I must get back to Lieutenant Gonzales, but I want to stay and help you. I did not even get to meet Grant.”

  “I know. I feel that same way, Kalju, but you must go. The battles are not yet over, and now we at least know each other is well. Whichever one of us talks to our family next, we promise to relate this moment. Right?”

  I hugged her close to me and held her. I should have held her forever, but I had to let go. “I will greet everyone back in Kansas for you, when I get back there.”

  “And when I make contact, I will tell them all my big brother is a fine warrior winning the battle against the Jellies. Go out there Kalju and win the battle on the Marathon!”

  We hugged again, and I then stepped into the bathroom and put my reactive armor back on. Lacey had cleaned it so well, some of the systems were like new, and even the ones that were terribly worn down were working better. She was the engineer I always wanted to be. I sure wish I had told her that then.

  Lifting the helmet, she went to put it on me. As she did, she said, “Activate the basic communication link, it can stay on and open for as long as needed. I love you my dear brother.”

  “Thank you. Lacey, I love you too.”

  As my helmet locked into place, I saw Lacey though the optics on my armor. It was not the same as seeing her face-to-face. I did a fancy bow and curtsey and then waked out of her flat. I waited to activate the communication system until I got to the street. I am certainly glad that I did.

  With a wave, I saw my sister Lacey for that last time. She was there at the doorway, and she waved back. For a few moments, we had shared an almost normal event.

  Heading down toward where the Big Lake was, I turned on the communication link. A multitude of voices came on, and I wished I could filter it in some way. By concentrating on specific voices and conversations, I could follow some of what was happening. Most was typical day-to-day talk about life in Journey. A few people were discussing some current events of the town and region, but the names, people, and places were unknown to me. They were the voices of a town at the edge of a battlefield, with an uncertain future. It was such a hodgepodge that before I got to the location with the oceanographers I shut it down. That also let me cry for my sister without the voices of strangers echoing in my head.

  The building where the oceanographers were located was obvious. It was three stories high, made from permalloy of a dull tan color. The windows were square and set in pairs along all three stories. Surrounding that building were earthen dikes which kept the
newly-made lake away from the building. A narrow strip of dirt made a sort-of isthmus from the higher ground to the area around the building. A water wheel which in normal times would be turned by the steady flow of water through a sluiceway, was now disconnected and idle, as the dikes had blocked off the old course where the river flowed. Several Journey Jabberwock troopers walked around what looked to have been a hastily constructed chain-link fence, of an antique style. That steel fence was at the top of the dikes, on all sides except for the isthmus. Obviously, permalloy would have been much stronger, and I wondered why they chose a weaker metal. The Jabberwock troopers were on guard, moving in the slow and pondering manner of most men and women who are walking as guards. They kept facing out over the lake.

  On the side of the building was inscribed “Queen Bee Mill” but I knew it was now going by the name which was draped on a banner across the fence, “Science Academy.”

  I pulled off my helmet and walked up the isthmus of dirt. Smelling real air was nice, and even though the odors from the Big Lake were not pleasant, they did remind me of that pond Dale had. I wiped the snot away from my nose, and spit onto the ground. At least those liquids I would not have to drink again after they were recycled. Somehow, just being able to spit and have it land somewhere away from me felt refreshing. One of the guards gestured for me to go on inside.