Darwin's Soldiers

by Ste Sharp

  The first explosion left a burning blue light in Samas’ vision. The rest he didn’t see but heard clearly enough. When he regained his sight the shark had disappeared into the trees.

  ‘Good work!’ Samas said and rubbed his eyes.

  ‘Uphill!’ Mihran ordered.

  ‘Archers to the rear,’ Samas commanded. ‘Signal if it returns.’

  ‘Why didn’t you attack with the first wave?’ Mihran asked Li.

  Samas heard Li sigh, but doubted Mihran had noticed. ‘After killing the elephant I assumed I was to hold back.’

  ‘No,’ Mihran replied, ‘no more holding back.’

  Li nodded and they walked on.

  Why couldn’t he talk to Mihran like that? Samas thought. He had little time for Mihran, but if they were to lead together, they needed a better relationship. The trouble was, every time Mihran spoke, Samas pictured a general from his Persian army: haughty and ungracious. He had been high-born too, Samas thought. Power was the one thing Mihran took for granted. He would have been given the right to subjugate others from birth and would never give that up. Here, away from the safety of the structured world of his tribe and army, those rights were not certain any more, and Samas threatened his power.

  With that thought, Samas walked a little lighter on his feet.

  ***

  ‘This is far enough . ’ Lavalle spoke to the group with weary eyes. ‘We should make camp.’

  Althorn appeared by his side in a blur. ‘I have found shelter,’ he gestured and sped off again.

  John tightened the strap holding his arm and longed for somewhere dry to lie down and sleep. Night had fallen hours ago and the winding forest path that ran up and downhill had made their journey hard going but Althorn insisted the river was just one day’s walk away. No one mentioned Mata and the wolves, but it hadn’t stopped John from thinking about it. Images of whipping green tendrils revisited him as he walked. John had tried to make eye contact with Mata, but he kept his distance.

  ‘The land drops away from here . ’ Althorn appeared and pointed to a sandy cliff lined with rows of caves, which were clearly not natural. ‘So it’s a great view when light.’

  ‘Looks like these were made for us!’ Crossley shone his torch into the first few caves, which stood six feet tall and ten feet deep.

  ‘Are these ruins?’ Euryleia asked and touched a wall.

  ‘They definitely look man-made . ’ John inspected a wall. ‘But why six sides? Why not square or arched?’

  ‘Who knows?’ Lavalle pushed past and settled in the first cave. ‘What I need is sleep.’

  Euryleia followed the crusader, and the other soldiers leapt at the next few caves, pushing past one another like children trying to get to the best dormitory bed. Lavalle’s glare told them his cave was full.

  ‘We’ll only get three in at the most,’ someone grumbled.

  ‘Don’t worry – there’s plenty more . ’ Crossley lit the long row up with his torch.

  John watched Mata walk to one of the caves furthest from the group, so he joined Althorn and Randeep. He curled up with his bag for a pillow and was asleep in seconds.

  ***

  ‘Who’s there?’ John’s voice boomed in t he small cave .

  He sat up and rubbed his eyes. It was light outside and t he cave was silent . What had woken him? Possibly Althorn when he left, seeing as his place was empty .

  Beyond thehexagonal cave entrance,John sawa mistrising through the forest canopy,which lay below the cave’s vantage point. The hazy sun’s mellow heat warmed the shelters,and John felt a feeling of contentment washover him. Despitethe danger of this land, hepreferred itto the destroyed towns and flooded trenches of Belgium and France.He glanced athis gun-arm, which lay bare since he’d ripped off the shirt sleeve. It had changed again: the corners of the muzzle looked softer, with organic curves,and his wrist was more metal than fleshnow. He had tried fitting the discus-shapedmagazineback in,in caseit could stillfire bullets, but the hole had distorted, making it useless. He could feel the gun though. Not the ghost presence of his fingers, as an amputee would, but he could sense the inner components of the gun instead, which felt comforting.

  John crept out onto the earthen platform in front of the caves where the trees had been deliberately cut down. A distant bird sang a fluting tune and he instinctively searched for the creature: he’d learnt any sound could be a threat here.

  ‘The caves are definitely man-made . ’ Crossley appeared from behind a tree, zipping his fly.

  John felt his heart jump.

  ‘You can see the marks where the builders used some kin d of slicing tool to carve them out of the lime stone,’ the American continued .

  John pointed at the stumps. ‘They’ve cut these down too.’

  ‘I’m telling you – there has to be someone else living he re, ’ Crossley said.

  ‘You think other soldiers were here before us?’ John asked .

  Cros sley shook his head. ‘Who knows? I would have said no, but this place is kinda strange.’ He sat next to John and gazed out as the dawn light spread across the tre e tops . ‘ Knowing this place , they were probably built by some kind of weird monkey or overs ized crab! ’ He laughed.

  ‘A bit like the Lost World, this place, ’ John said.

  ‘You read the book?’

  ‘No . ’ John wasn’t a big reader. ‘Some of my mates in the barracks tal ked about it – they’d read it. D inosaurs and monkey men in South America .’

  ‘Yeah, i t’s a good yarn. I guess you wouldn’t have heard of Asimov or Heinlein, or read any of the sci-fi mags we’ve got in the US, but I reckon this place is more like something H . G . Wells would have dreamt up.’

  ‘I’ve heard of him . ’ John smiled. ‘The lads were talking about The Time Machine the other day . ’ His face lit up. ‘Do you think that’s how we got here?’

  Crossley shrugged. ‘Maybe.’ He looked around. ‘This could be Earth in the future. Maybe humans are extinct and we’ve been brough t in to repopulate the planet, or protect it?’

  ‘So, people in our future brought us here but didn’t stay to talk to us ?’ John asked with a wry smile.

  ‘No, it doesn’t sound too convincing . ’ Crossley rubbed his temples and smiled. ‘We could have been put in hibernation though – no time machine needed. Don’t know by who, but that’d work.’

  ‘Now you’re just guessing . ’ John looked out across the woodland. ‘Whoever brought us here must have had a bloody good reason to go to all this trouble .’

  The sound of a snapped twig made them turn to see Lavalle exiting his cave.

  ‘A nice little love nest over there, hey?’ Crossley whispered to John.

  ‘Good morning . ’ The muscular knight stretched as he greeted the men. ‘Damn cramped in that cave – not good for my back.’

  Crossley raised his eyebrows at John , who shook his head, imploring him not to tease Lavalle .

  ‘Too cramped for you to get your sword out and try some lunges?’ Crossley asked with a straight face.

  ‘Yes, of course . ’ Lavalle gave the American his u sual look. ‘Why would I want to? ’

  John turned his laugh into a cough and stood up. ‘Sorry, cold air on my chest.’

  Crossley sta rted to say something else but a shout caught their attention. It was coming from Mata’s end of the caves.

  ‘Help!’ The cry was muffled.

  The men ran towards the yell, past sleeping soldiers, to a blood-splattered cave. A decapitated body lay on the floor near a Chinese soldier , who struggled with two enormous blades swip ing in and out of the back wall .

  ‘God’s mercy!’ Lavalle leapt forward with his sword to f end off the sharp blades.

  Crossley and John rushed in but co uld do little in the cramped spac e.

  T wo large compound eyes could be seen through the torn wall .

  ‘It’s a giant bug!’ Crossley shouted and pulled an orange toadstool from his bag .

  The huge
insect snapped and tore at the Chinese soldier with its razor-sharp mandibles. With a lunge, it caught him around the waist and sliced him in two, spilling his intestines onto the ground.

  Lavalle jabbed his broadsword into the insect’s eye.

  ‘Get back!’ Crossley grabbed at Lavalle . ‘Or you’ll be next… s tand clear!’ Crossley shouted and lobbed a toadstool into the cave.

  The explosion was magnified in the small chamber and sent a blast of debris over them , but John had turned in time to avoid a face full of stones.

  ‘What did you do that for , you imbecile?’ Lavalle roared, dusting himself off.

  ‘W e had to kill it , ’ Crossley replied.

  ‘Well now you’ve woken up the whole damn nest.’

  John looked up to see row after row of hexagonal caves lin ed on top of one another , leading up the entire cliff face . ‘There must be hundreds of them.’

  More screams could be heard and John rushed to Mata’s cave in time to see a pair of glistening jaws pierci ng through the rear of the cave .

  Lavalle bellowed , ‘ Everyone out of the caves and into the forest as fast as you can. ’

  A low humming sound was coming from the giant colony , so John grabbed his bag and ra n, catching glimpses of jaws and clawed feet bursting through the wall s of each cave he passed .

  ‘Bloody giant wasps, ’ he heard Crossley muttering ahead. ‘What’s n ext? A troop of groundhogs with machetes?’

  ‘Downhill!’ Lavalle led them into the forest.

  The humming noise was getting louder . With a glance back , John saw a line of wasps the size of fighter planes streaming out of the nest .

  They were at the forest edge when the fir st insects attacked , grabbing the stragglers and stabbing with their stings.

  ‘Don’t stop!’ John shouted to a medieval lancer who struck out at the flying beasts with his long spear.

  ‘I’ll hold them off ! ’ The lancer jabbed one attacker in the abdomen, sending it falling to the ground in a wild panic of thrashing legs and pincers.

  The buzzing grew louder in response.

  ‘You’re just making them worse!’ John shouted, but it was too late.

  T hree wasps descended and pierced the lancer with their metre-long stings.

  ‘John!’ Crossley shouted from the forest edge. ‘Hurry up!’

  Once again, there was nothing John could do and h e sprinted int o the safety of the dark forest .

  ‘We’ve gotta keep moving . ’ Crossley pointed into the forest.

  ‘Aye, they’re tenacious beasties,’ said the Scottish warrior. ‘They won’t give up.’

  ‘Right then,’ said Lavalle , ‘ follow me!’

  Althorn appeared between John and Mata. ‘You’ll need to be quick – they’re crawling in. ’ He vanish ed and appeared next to Lavalle . ‘Get deeper into the wood.’

  What felt like an age later, t he line of soldiers filed out of the forest and onto a long , sandy beach.

  ‘Wow, ’ John said, squinting in the light.

  Small waves folded softly into the sand and palms sway ed in the breeze.

  John dropped his bag and fell to his knees. ‘This is beautiful.’

  ‘Wait a minute . ’ Crossley’s loud voice pierced the serene moment. ‘That’s no river – it’s a sea!’

  Althorn looked blank. ‘What’s a sea?’

  ‘Are you serious?’ Crossley growled.

  Althorn shrugged.

  ‘Great, so now we have to cross – ’

  ‘Q uiet! ’ Lavalle shouted and pointed to the sky .

  John looked up and shiel ded his eyes with his good hand to see a line of dark silhouettes descend ing from the clouds .

  ***

  ‘I want to talk to you about the future,’ Samas said to Li as they walked ahead of the main party.

  ‘Go on,’ Li replied with no emotion.

  ‘What was war like in your time?’ Samas asked.

  ‘To be honest, we fight over the same thing – power. Power over trade, water or oil. But the fighting is very different from your time. We fight in cities, not on plains. Anyone in the open would be killed by tracker robots or vaporised by cosmo-tanks…’

  Samas frowned as Li’s words made no sense.

  ‘Automated fighting machines,’ Li explained.

  Samas nodded, picturing wooden constructions firing exploding spears. ‘And in the cities you fight with guns and explosions?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Hand-to-hand combat? Face to face?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And they let women fight?’

  Li paused. ‘Yes – in fact, where I come from, the best soldiers are women.’

  Samas waited a few strides before asking, ‘When are you going to tell the rest of the group you’re a woman?’

  ‘I’m not,’ Li answered quickly. ‘The last thing we need is more disruption.’

  ‘But you will tell them eventually?’

  Li didn’t answer.

  The path eventually stopped at a cliff edge.

  ‘There’s a rough track down there.’ Bowman stood at the edge of the two-hundred-foot-high cliff in the hazy dusk light. ‘It zigzags down. It’ll be tight.’

  Samas couldn’t see any path.

  ‘After you then, sure-foot!’ Sakarbaal patted Bowman on the shoulder. ‘Don’t worry – we’re right behind you.’ He laughed.

  Bowman made tentative steps down the narrow ledge, avoiding the piles of scree and loose stone.

  ‘Careful there!’ Samas shouted.

  The rest of the Night Watch stared down, holding their collective breath as the Englishman picked out a safe route.

  ‘It’s fine!’ he shouted back up from a ledge. ‘Come on!’ he beckoned.

  ‘Why not?’ Sakarbaal stepped down onto the precarious path, using his trident for balance, followed by the rest of the group.

  Samas studied the cliff. Rocks jutted out, capturing soil for shrubs, whose roots secured the meandering path. Samas’ turn came, and he cautiously positioned his sandalled feet on the dusty path which had been flattened by the first soldiers. He kept one eye on the path and another on the men up front.

  ‘Woah!’ Olan steadied himself after a slip that sent shards of rock into the forest below.

  ‘This bit’s a bit hairy,’ Bowman shouted up.

  ‘Dido’s pelt!’ Samas heard Sakarbaal join Bowman at a resting point. ‘We’re not even halfway down.’

  The air cooled and an evening mist rose from the thick forest below.

  ‘We should have made ropes,’ Samas mumbled to himself. ‘Don’t rush – take your time!’ He called down and took his eyes off the path. With a twist of the ankle, he slipped… the weight of his shield pulled him away from the cliff and he fell.

  Down.

  Through thin air.

  It felt like time stood still as Samas saw shocked faces above him – Li; Mihran; Bowman; Sakarbaal – felt a wave of calm wash over him, found himself staring up the cliff face and into the dark clouds above. He stopped thrashing his arms and legs. What will be, will be, he thought. Then he slammed into a ledge with an explosion that shook his bones and darkness consumed him.

  His next sensation was pain. It came in the form of light. He saw a low, grey light pulsing. Was that his heartbeat or his pounding head? Then a lightning strike ripped across his vision. What was that? Samas could feel something sticking into him. He tried to move and the lightning flashed again. Where was the pain? He moved his legs, then his arms. They were stuck but if he… there was the flash again.

  This wasn’t good.

  He tried to open his eyes but they remained stubbornly closed. What was he afraid of seeing? He’d seen worse in battle. He heard voices and a spray of stones clattered near his feet.

  ‘He’s down here!’

  Who was that? Sakarbaal?

  ‘I can’t get across to him.’

  ‘I can make it from here,’ another voice replied.

  Samas forced his
eyes open and craned his neck but couldn’t see either of them. Was it Bowman? The pain in his arm throbbed, so he tried to shift his weight but was pinned down. Why couldn’t he move?

  ‘Samas!’ Bowman came into view, sliding down to where he lay.

  ‘I–’ Samas tried to move, but the pain made him dizzy. He held his breath, trying not to vomit.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ Bowman asked.

  ‘My arm…’

  ‘If that’s all, you got away lightly – it wasn’t a race, you know. No prizes for getting down first.’

  Samas started to laugh but a pain in his side stopped him. ‘Maybe my ribs as well.’

  Sakarbaal was beside Bowman now. ‘We’ll have to lift him out – sit him against the cliff.’

  ‘Easier said than done. It’s lucky these plants broke your fall,’ Bowman said. ‘And having your shield on your back.’

  ‘My shield!’ Samas would be lost without his weapons. ‘Has it broken?’

  ‘Don’t worry, let’s concentrate on you,’ Bowman answered. ‘Ready?’

  Sakarbaal nodded. ‘Ready. One arm and one leg each… easy… come on.’

  The men carefully laid Samas on the dusty ledge.

  ‘I could have predicted it would be you.’ Mihran appeared, wearing a look of distaste.

  Samas stared back and said nothing. If I can face an army, he thought, I can face you. And if I can face you, I can face this pain. As if in response, a shot of pain darted along his wrist, causing him to wince. I’ll fight again, he thought.

  ‘We’ll see,’ Mihran said, then turned to Sakarbaal. ‘Make a stretcher.’ He ushered the rest of the soldiers along. ‘Keep moving.’

  Samas looked at Mihran in confusion. Had he just replied to what Samas had been thinking? No, it must have been a trick of the mind, he thought, I must have said it out loud.

  Sleep took Samas again.

  When he woke, Li was scanning his body. ‘You’ve got bruising on your lower back which will heal with heat-wave treatment.’

  Samas’ eyes widened as he envisioned red-hot coals.

  ‘Your main issues are the broken ribs and arm.’ She motioned towards Samas’ left arm, which he cradled.