Darwin's Soldiers

by Ste Sharp

  ‘Stop!’ Millok hissed.

  John let go of the cart and pulled the rope. ‘What is it?’

  ‘Movement. Up ahead.’

  John squinted but could see only open grassland, the snaking line of the river to his left and a hazy smudge in the distance, which he assumed was Abzicrutia.

  ‘We need to hide. Quick!’ Millok said.

  ‘Alright, give me a chance!’ John pushed hard, stepping into each push, until he built up momentum to start jogging again.

  ‘Over there.’ Millok pointed at a set of low, purple rocks.

  ‘Ready?’ John flipped Millok off the cart behind the hip-high rocks and turned the cart on its back. ‘Were we spotted?’ he asked.

  ‘They didn’t change direction,’ Millok replied, lying where she’d landed.

  John was still catching his breath. ‘Is it safe to look?’

  ‘Allow me.’ Millok extended one of her smaller eyes on a stalk and John waited, praying for them to pass.

  ‘I recognise them… all original Brakari. Tower guards. Must have been held back for a surprise attack.’

  ‘What? I have to tell Mihran.’ John remembered Mihran’s implicit ban on thought-casting. ‘But–’

  ‘There’s nothing you can do now.’ Millok’s eye was turning, following the enemy party. ‘Wait… one is different. The Draytor!’

  John’s gun-arm clicked. ‘I should have killed it while I had the chance.’

  Millok’s eye curled back down and she faced him. ‘Maybe.’ She flexed her neck and put some weight on one of her forelegs.

  ‘Can you walk?’ John asked.

  ‘Not yet. The force field froze my shell casings tight – it’ll take some time for the muscles to be strong enough again to snap them open. But I have an idea.’

  Minutes later, Millok and John sped through a shallow ford and were closing in on Abzicrutia. They took turns to power the cart: John would push and run from behind for a spell, then he would rest on the back step while Millok used her powerful arms to spin the wheels.

  ‘If Abzicrutia’s this close, why did your army take so long to get to the battlefield?’ John asked.

  ‘Deception,’ Millok replied. ‘Always deception.’

  The towers and domes of Abzicrutia loomed ahead and John’s stomach tightened. This was the last place he wanted to be but he knew the army was relying on him.

  ‘We’re going the wrong way,’ John said, not recognising this side of the city.

  ‘No,’ Millok replied. ‘We’ll have to use the main entrance – there’s no time for the tunnel.’

  She was right. Who knew what was happening back at the battle? It could all be over by the time they made it back.

  ‘Leave this here.’ Millok steered the cart up to the side of a tower gate and straightened her legs with a series of cracks.

  ‘Right then,’ John strapped his webbing tight, ‘after you.’

  Millok stalked away with more clicks and groans and, by the time they’d made it into the city, she was walking normally again.

  ‘There’s no one here,’ she whispered.

  ‘Told you,’ John replied.

  Keeping the wall on their left, they crept past the domed sauna houses and towers he remembered from his escape. The smell hadn’t changed and he considered putting his gas mask on.

  ‘Oh no!’ Millok rushed forward to a shape on the floor. Another Brakari by the look of the blue shell, but the limbs looked wrong. ‘Krotank.’ Millok stroked the Brakari’s head. It was obvious she would get no reply. Half of his limbs had been severed or were hanging off the broken shell of his torso.

  ‘Who did this?’ John asked.

  Millok didn’t need to answer. ‘Let’s get what we need and get out of here.’

  John saw a flash of orange pulse down Millok’s side as he followed her inside the hut where he’d been tortured. His eyes adjusted and he realised he’d been holding his breath. Calm down, he told himself. The place was a mess compared with how he’d last seen it, with weapons, body parts and blades scattered across the floor.

  ‘Where did you see the box?’ Millok asked.

  ‘Over there.’ John pointed to the table where he’d found the marble-like Sorean shields. He paused and stared. Hanging on the wall in all its preserved horror was his petrified leg. He’d hoped Joe’s tin soldier would be with it but the leg hung alone.

  ‘Is this it?’ Millok was holding a metallic box. Tiny lights twinkled across its chrome surface.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Let’s go then.’

  ‘Sure, just one second, I…’ John scanned the tables and floor. ‘It has to be here.’

  ‘I’ll be outside,’ Millok said, leaving John alone.

  He turned over boxes and nudged limbs with his metal foot, but he couldn’t see the tin soldier. It was too dark. He heard a noise outside and drifted into the first room, still searching. Scraps of paper littered the floor and shelves. Nothing useful, like tactical plans or weapons lists, just sketches of broken bodies and numbers. Out of frustration he kicked a table leg and the whole thing collapsed.

  ‘Shit!’ He jumped back, surprised at the strength of his new metal leg.

  Then he smiled. Joe’s tin soldier lay on the floor, still on its leather thread. John grabbed it, hung it round his neck and ran out of the building. He was still smiling when his eyes adjusted to the outdoor light to see Millok crouched and poised to run. A few steps away, a small black-shelled creature covered in spikes floated menacingly. Green energy writhed over its skin as it spoke.

  ‘And you must be the human, John Greene.’

  Chapter 18

  ‘Shields up!’ Li shouted.

  The tang in the air from the orange liquid above them was indescribable, but Li’s warning systems had flashed the second they sensed the chemicals in the air.

  It’s explosive, she thought-cast to Mihran and the other captains.

  Mihran replied, Prepare for the worst.

  Li peered over Samas’ infantrymen, who stood between her archers and the Brakari. The four, bloated beasts who had vomited the liquid into the sky were nowhere to be seen. Incapacitated or dead, she presumed. She peered up at the frozen amber dome, above which floated a cloud of white petals from Belsang’s missile. The effect was menacing and implied total control.

  Then the first petal hit the layer of amber explosive.

  A spot of yellow appeared and Li’s telescopic sight zoomed in to see a chemical reaction taking place. The orange liquid was rapidly absorbing energy from the white fragment and expanding its molecular structure, from solid to liquid.

  Here it comes, she thought-cast. Above the Sorean. Olan,watch out!

  Sections fell out of the orange sky, sending liquid flames on to the soldiers below. The Sorean dodged the falling drips, losing their formation as the first explosive hit the ground, showering them with flaming soil and triggering green and red shields into action.

  With the allies distracted, the Brakari army opened fire. Rockets, arrows and incendiaries arched into the air.

  They’re attacking, Samas thought-cast.

  Do we return fire? Li asked Mihran.

  No, Mihran replied. Hold position. They want to disrupt us, but we will learn from their attack. All captains – hold and defend.

  Then the rain came: barbed arrows of medieval quality slammed into the earth metres from where heat-seeking missiles spun into the human army, sending bodies flying.

  We must do something! Samas was striding from side to side. Or they’ll pick us off one by one!

  Shall we intercept the missiles? Li asked.

  Basic weapons only, Mihran replied. Not your rifle, Li – give nothing away.

  Li ordered her archers to fire and Bowman’s eagle-eyed arrows were soon snaking through the air, picking off missiles. New sections of the amber dome melted as more petals set off chain reactions, dripping explosives onto the troops below. If they could be shielded from the aerial onslaught they could concentrate o
n the Brakari, she thought. They needed a shield dome like the Lutamek had created on the grassland, but the equipment was back up the hill. An idea came to her, and Li flicked through her visor’s frequencies to the new manipulative bandwidth. A series of drips were falling above her right flank, so she focused on one and tried to slow its fall. The archers beneath looked up in time and jumped for cover as the drip hit the ground. She had bought them a second or two but there was no way she could hold off every drip like that.

  ‘Damn it!’ Her frustration burst through.

  And then something strange happened.

  The debris from the explosion paused mid-air. Li daren’t look away – it felt like she was holding the pieces. She raised her head and the fragments lifted up. ‘Yes!’ Her anger must have added energy to her commands. All she had to do was keep the fragments in mid-air then… she had an idea. She changed the frequency and held her breath before turning away. When she looked back, the soil and shrapnel were still in place, floating in mid-air.

  We need dust, she thought-cast.

  Questions came back from all quarters until Mihran replied, Explain.

  Throw up dust, soil – anything – and I’ll create a barrier, Li said.

  We can’t expose your skill, Mihran responded.

  We need protection and we need it now! Samas joined in.

  Mihran thought-cast the entire army at once. All troops. Kickthe ground – throw soil into the air.

  After a few bemused looks, the riflemen and spearmen around Li were scuffing the ground with their sandalled and booted feet, or throwing fistfuls of dirt into the air. The soldiers in Samas’ group downhill were doing the same. Li had to be quick. She ran back a few paces to get a better view over the army and fixed her gaze on a portion of air above their heads. She trapped the debris and moved it high, close to the orange dome, then changed her frequency to fix it in place. Then again, leaving the next layer a fraction lower, and so on. Each layer was thin but she was steadily building a protective net of dust and soil.

  The next orange drip hit her highest layer of dust and exploded, sending smaller drips onto the levels below, which exploded in turn. The cascade continued downwards until a fine spray of hot sparks showered the soldiers beneath, leaving no one injured.

  We need more, Mihran thought-cast.

  Li felt the rumble of trampling feet and worked quicker to send more layers of dust up to join the ever-thickening cover. In her peripheral vision she saw the missiles from the Brakari hit the outer edges of her dirt shield. It was working! She focused on the missiles too, absorbing them into the protective layer, then cleared the smoke from the battlefield and twisted it into a thin layer over the entire army.

  Let’s make it hard for them to see us, she thought-cast to the captains and Mihran.

  Good work, Li, Mihran replied.

  Li felt the army sigh with her. The battle had barely started and they had been given a shock, but now they could catch their breath, move the injured and prepare for what came next.

  The Brakari were reshaping in response: the small triangular divisions were breaking up and forming one long, zigzag line. Li’s visor zoomed to focus on the front line, which was made up of the Brakari with their shovel-like arms.

  Moles, she thought-cast. Big ones.

  Your orders, Commander? Gal-qadan asked.

  Hold, Mihran replied. It’s time for Sakarbaal.

  Li looked to the right flank and imagined Sakarbaal nonchalantly leaning on his trident. She had seen the inventions Crossley had come up with: club-headed stakes; lances; discus-shaped devices.

  Time to play, Sakarbaal thought-cast back, but he couldn’t be seen. Li noticed movement in Samas’ ranks: a slow wave of soldiers retreating back a few steps as stakes of varying heights appeared, sunk in the ground at random intervals across no-man’s-land.

  The zigzag line of large Brakari advanced using the downward slope to speed to a gallop. The ground trembled beneath their weight and then, after they splashed through the stream at the valley floor, the entire line dived into the ground with an explosion of soil and debris. When the dust settled, all Li saw was a line of holes.

  What now? Samas thought-cast.

  Hold, Mihran replied.

  I estimate two minutes until the moles reach the line, Li added.

  More missiles! Olan’s voice entered her head.

  Li scanned the Brakari army and picked out groups of red, bat-like creatures loading and firing cannons. Overhead, one of the missiles exploded, sending a green light across Li’s dust shield. Had they developed a chemical to destroy her shield that quickly?

  The dust shield is deteriorating, she thought-cast.

  We must attack soon! Samas shouted.

  Patience, Mihran responded. More dust.

  The soldiers stamped and Li worked quickly to add new layers to the shield. She ran ideas through her mind as she worked. Mihran’s strategy so far was to absorb every attack the enemy could throw at them, but what next? Wait or attack? ‘Lure with bait: strike with chaos,’ seemed most apt but, despite their discussions, she had no idea what Mihran’s next move would be.

  That’ll hold it for a little longer, Li thought-cast.

  In no-man’s-land, snaking cracks and mounds were leading uphill towards the humans, which meant the Brakari-moles were close to breaking out to attack. Li held her breath as the cracks ran up to Sakarbaal’s line of mines, which should be triggered by their movement… but the cracks continued, straight on towards Samas and his men.

  ***

  ‘Weapons ready!’ Samas shouted and took stock of his front line. His men were paired up, as Mihran had ordered. Some stood back, nervously, while others, like Kastor and Osayimwese, were on the front foot with their spears aimed at the mounds of earth that zigzagged towards them.

  Why didn’t the explosions work? Samas thought-cast.

  Must be the trigger, Li replied.

  Mihran said nothing, but Samas could see Li frantically tapping buttons on her wrist controls.

  Too late to worry, he thought. It was time to fight and his men needed him.

  ‘Strong arms, strong legs – get in line! Anwar, keep tight with your partner.’ Samas berated a swordsman for drifting. ‘Focus! Whatever comes out of the ground – kill it!’

  The men roared or clashed steel against armour.

  I think I can see the issue, Li thought-cast but nobody responded.

  Samas cast a look at Dakaniha. Why had Mihran paired them? Dakaniha had given him some excuse about not wanting to fight on horseback, but their fighting styles were completely different: Dakaniha had a knife, an axe and wooden armour. It wasn’t enough.

  ‘Ready?’ Samas asked, stern-faced, and pushed his helmet down tight.

  Dakaniha nodded and opened all four eyes.

  Then all hell broke loose. A slow god-drum made a steady beat from right to left as clouds of soil erupted every few metres, moving along the line Sakarbaal had planted.

  There we go, Li thought-cast.

  The explosions ripped along the valley, past the tocka and along Samas’ front line, showering them with soil, all the way along to the Sorean on the left flank. When the dust settled, Samas stared at an immense trench, twice a man’s height deep. Here and there, the blue shells of the Brakari-moles could be seen: the dead and the dying. But the explosion had been too late and half of the attack had made it through. Blue claws punched free and smashed into the grassy valley side, grasping for leverage to pull their armoured bodies out of the ground. These were big Brakari: taller than Samas and twice as long. It would be like fighting the metal tanks Crossley had talked about.

  ‘Choose one and attack!’ Samas shouted.

  He saw pairs of soldiers rushing in to meet their opponents and held out a hand to stop Dakaniha. He pointed to a crack in the soil winding towards them like a slow-moving wave.

  Li, Samas thought-cast. Any help would be great.

  Sure, she replied. Just trying to stop the sky from fall
ing in…

  Samas looked up. The dust shield was spotted with green patches.

  ‘Here it comes,’ Dakaniha said and took a step forward.

  Samas flexed his shoulders. The shield felt strong strapped to the rock-cast on his arm, while his right arm felt loose and free. He watched the soil rise ten strides away and, with an eruption of earth, blue claws punched out of the ground and dragged out their shelled body. All Samas could see were eyes, the points where the limbs met the body and the joins between the armoured plates: all the weak spots.

  A claw smashed into the ground by Samas’ feet and he leapt forward, lunging with his spear: the shaft slipped through his palm with practised grace and pierced one of the larger eyes, which popped with an explosion of black liquid.

  ‘Rekarius!’ the creature yelled.

  Instinctively, Samas pulled the spear back, before the large hammer pincers could snap it. He ducked beneath another attacking claw and looked for Dakaniha, who stood on the other side of the massive creature.

  ‘Attack its legs!’ Samas shouted and rolled to avoid the digger’s huge claw, which would have cut him in half.

  Through the scuttling legs and thumping pincers, Samas saw Dakaniha skip and jump. There was no way he could get close enough to use his tiny weapons. With the mole’s attention turned to Dakaniha, Samas ran to its rear end and stabbed at its hind legs. The shell was thicker than his shield and the gap between its leg plates and the carapace on its back was too tight to stab. Samas paused a second too long and was caught off guard as a leg swung out and clattered into his shield, sending him flying back into the dust. He grunted and picked himself up. The creature was getting tired and confused but hadn’t become less dangerous.

  Shall I use my rifle? Li thought-cast.

  No, Mihran replied. Incendiaries only.

  Samas leant on his spear to stand up. He saw patches of crimson blood across the battlefield. One digger was running rampant, but his men had it circled. A lone figure caught his attention: Mata. The broad Maori walked unscathed and unchallenged through the battlefield with a bemused look on his face, and his bizarre black seed pods shook on his body, like a heavy coat.