The Vampires of Antyllus

by Michael E. Gonzales

  In her mind, a confusion was forming as alien to her as the blue trees and these multi-colored, silver-haired strangers. She shook her head. What the hell is going on here? You are in a life and death struggle that's only going to get worse. Don't complicate things any more than they already are!

  She looked up and Illat was standing at the base of a pyramid with steep, smooth sides. Three sets of stone steps led to the top upon which stood a two-story tall structure with a flat roof. The pyramid was over thirty-six meters tall and the steps were made for these tall long-legged people.

  Kathy turned to call Dave forward. She had intended to shout his name, but when her eyes fell on him, her voice auto modulated and she spoke his name not much louder than a whisper. "Dave." He trotted up to her and they both turned to look at Illat.

  The tall Indig indicated the steps and said to Dave, "You go. They stay."

  "Wait a minute—" Kathy began her protest, but Illat just repeated himself, "Dave goes up. You stay here."

  "Illat," Dave took a step toward him, "this woman is my Mets-sa, and she brings a message from our chief. These others are my friends; they wish to come with me."

  Illat thought a moment. "Dave…you and your Mets-sa may go. The others stay here."

  Kathy looked back at the others. Everyone, except Zolna, nodded. Zolna looked like a deer in the headlights.

  "Go to the very top," Illat directed.

  Kathy and Dave began to climb the exceedingly steep stairs. About a third of the way up, Kathy glanced over her shoulder and down at the others.

  "Careful," Dave warned, "you don't want to fall again, not from up here. We'd have a long bumpy trip down."

  "So, you'd grab me again?"

  "Well, sure. Even if I only suspected you might fall," and he smiled.

  "You know, if you did, we might both go tumbling down?"

  Dave glanced over at her and said coyly, "That might not be so bad."

  "I guess you've gotten over your fear of being close to me?"

  "Kathy, I’m not afraid to be close to you. I'm just being respectful of Lieutenant Colonel Selina." He paused a moment then added, "Could you crack a joke for me? This conversation is making me uncomfortable." And he smiled at her again.

  Kathy did not respond immediately. But at last, she spoke in a soft, kind voice. "You are a lonely man, aren't you, Dave?"

  "What?"

  "I asked you if you are lonely."

  "I am alone, that doesn't mean I am lonely."

  "It's all right, Dave. I understand. Ya just get too busy for a relationship and all the emotional baggage that accompanies such interactions, right?"

  "No…I just gave up on it, is all."

  "Really, why?"

  "It's just the way things turned out for me—the military, then the war, then the Moon, then becoming a SUB, now…out here. It's just not meant to be. I figure it's healthier not to long for something you can't have and just accept the situation."

  Kathy remained stoic, and did not respond. She recognized the similarity of their situations, and the differences. Whereas Dave was accepting the situation life had dropped upon him, she had intentionally created hers.

  "I guess you know," she went on, "that our very mission here indicates we don't wish to accept the situation. And what's wrong with being a SUB? We're never going to age; we'll always look and feel just like this. They tell me we SUBs could live to be over a hundred years old.

  "Dave, I believe we can bring real peace to this place. These are good people who want to live in peace. We are the ones causing all this trouble. We have a chance at real happiness here.

  "I never thought about being happy before. And Dave, I've decided I want to be happy, I'm gonna start just as soon as this crap is over."

  "Why are you telling me all this?" Dave asked.

  "Because you sound defeated. Perhaps you've forgotten that we have a completely new start at a new life."

  "Happy, eh? To tell you the truth, I've been happier these last few days than I've been my whole life."

  "Really? Why is that?"

  "I'm not sure. The adventure of it all, excitement I haven't felt since I was in combat. And then there's the company I'm keeping. Perhaps it's the gestalt."

  "The company you're keeping?" Kathy asked.

  "Yeah," Dave replied as they reached the top, "I'm in good company." He turned and offered Kathy his hand for her last few steps.

  Dave led the way into the structure on the top of the pyramid. Inside, it was dark so they adjusted their vision. The walls were painted and decorated, but showed the effects of a long period of neglect. In the back was a narrow set of steps built into the back wall that led up to the next level.

  At the top of the stairs was another large room. The remains of rotting wooden furniture lay all about. This room also once possessed brightly painted and decorated walls. The other side of the room was open to the air through a series of arched openings that led out onto a long, narrow balcony. But Kathy and Dave climbed the second set of steps against the same back wall and were soon standing on the roof of the stone structure some forty-three meters above the city street. At the far end, sat a lone female E'meset. Her back was to them; her feet must have been dangling over the end of the structure.

  Without a word, Kathy and Dave walked across the roof toward the woman. They were almost upon her when she sprang to her feet and turned quickly around. It was Le'ha. She was dressed in a very colorful loincloth and had decorated herself with many bright leaves, flowers, necklaces, bracelets, feathers and reflective ornaments. She initially had a big smile on her face, until she saw Kathy. She stopped and brought herself up to her full, and impressive, height.

  "Who is this?" she demanded in a stern voice.

  "Le'ha, this is my Mets-sa, this is Lieutenant Colonel Kathy—"

  "Is she your mate?"

  "Say what?" The question shocked Dave.

  "Do you mate with her?"

  Kathy brushed past Dave to stand directly in front of Le'ha. "Not yet," she replied for Dave. "Besides, shouldn't you be picking on someone your own size?"

  "My own size?" Le'ha repeated, and then she began to laugh, a small chuckle at first, then a full-force laugh. Le'ha wiped a tear from her eye and looked down at Kathy. "You are a fun-knee…I think I like you."

  "Well…good."

  "You are Dave's Mets-sa?" Le'ha asked.

  "Mets-sa?" Kathy shot back.

  "The female leader of a hunt," Dave whispered to her, "a male is called a Mets-so."

  "Yes," Kathy responded. "I am his Mets-sa. I understand you are a leader of your people."

  "I am, with Paha Vadeat, the circle of deciders. You call a council. And my council wish to know why Dave returns when he told us he was going to stop the Ukse at the Blood City." She paused for a breath, then said, "Sit, and we will talk together."

  They all sat cross legged on the roof. Kathy looked beyond Le'ha at the dark blue forest they were towering over. Before her and behind her, huge snowcapped mountains loomed, their lower sides covered in the lush blue forest vegetation. Above them, the clouds had parted, the rains moved on, and the dark blue sky was visible. A few bright stars shone, as they always did. There were yet a few large, fluffy clouds that the sun illuminated to a bright pinkish white, adding to the afternoon’s illumination.

  "Mets-sa," Le'ha said, bringing Kathy back, "you are helping Dave to stop the Ukse at Blood City?"

  "Yes, Le'ah. My General, the leader of my group, has sent me to talk to you about the situation. Dave may have told you, but not all my people see eye to eye—"

  "Eye to eye?" Le'ah asked, confused.

  Dave leaned forward and whispered into Kathy's ear, "Don't use colloquialisms, she knows some, but they generally leave her stumped."

  "We don't all agree." Kathy corrected herself. "We want to do what's right for everybody, but we don't currently know exactly what is right. We are seeking answers from our own people and from you. What we'd like from you is y
our promise not to attack New Roanoke."

  "Will you stop the Ukse from gathering our people into the Blood City?"

  "We will try."

  "Know this…though we may not attack the metal city, we will no longer be gathered like fruit from the trees. We will fight the gatherers. We started at Ourinco's rise this day when gatherers entered the village by the hills of Tagart. Half a hand of E'lawvat E'meset died, but a hand and a half of Ukse died, and our people remain free."

  Kathy looked at Dave. "It's started."

  "Yes," Dave responded. "The question is…where's the CDF in all this?"

  Kathy turned back to Le'ha. "Where did these gatherers come from?"

  "Where they always come from, the Blood City."

  "Okay," Dave observed, "then they weren't CDF soldiers. They must have been Wilmington's mercenaries."

  "Le'ha," Kathy asked, "why do you call it Blood City?"

  "Inside the metal building, they take from us our blood."

  "Why would they do that?" Kathy was incredulous.

  "It is said the Ukse drink it."

  Kathy looked to Dave, who only shrugged.

  They all sat quietly for several seconds. Then, Le'ha asked, "What will you do now?"

  "Well," Kathy was thinking out loud, "we have to let the general know you will not attack New Roanoke, but that you will defend yourselves. When we tell him what you say is happening in the clinic, he'll want confirmation." She turned to Dave. "We have to split up. I'm sending half of us back to New Roanoke to inform the general, and the rest are going to the clinic, but this time, we're gonna take a look inside. You take Cassie and Mitch and head back. I'll take Zolna and Webster—"

  "No, ma'am," Dave interrupted. "You and I and Zolna will be going to the clinic. Cassie, Mitch and Webster will head back."

  Kathy was about to exercise her authority, but something about Dave's look stopped her. "Okay, Dave, we'll do it your way, this time. Don't get used to it, though."

  "I will go, too, with you." Le'ha volunteered, and got to her feet.

  "You don't have to do that Le'ha," Kathy shot back, and she and Dave also rose.

  "Yes, I must. You do not know the way. I will lead you, and Illat will lead the others."

  "Okay. We are ready to go now, how about you?" Kathy asked.

  "We must gather food and water for the journey. We will be ready when Ourinco is there," she pointed into the sky.

  As they were walking back toward the stairs, Dave looked up at Le'ha. "Do you remember telling me about Doctor Milnor? You said there were others; you told me that at our next meeting you would explain them to me, and about the fish thing."

  "Yes, Dave," she stopped and bent down toward him. "It is on our path, and I will show you." She then cupped Dave's face in her large right hand. She shot Kathy a glance and smiled, then trotted down the stairs.

  Kathy watched as Dave's eyes followed Le'ah until she was gone, then Kathy casually strolled over toward him. "So," she asked, "just how familiar did you get with this woman the night you stayed in her camp?"

  "Oh, you have got to be kidding!" Dave exclaimed. "I'm a professional!"

  Before he could say another word, Kathy descended into the structure leaving Dave alone on the roof. As she trotted down, she smiled to herself.

  ○O○

  Dave was very confused and somewhat upset. His recent conversation with Kathy seemed to herald the start of a closer friendship—they had become confidants. Then, she hit him with this accusatory statement. It crossed Dave's mind that such an accusation from a woman could be the kiss of death for burgeoning friendship.

  As Dave clomped down the steps, this weighed on his mind; not the likelihood of war, not the journey ahead, not the pending infiltration of a potentially hostile installation. Dave was the victim of the oldest, and most effective, of tactical deceptions, and he was completely unaware.

  Down at the foot of the pyramid, several Indigs had spread upon the ground a number of their weapons, offering them to Dave and all the Ukse. Most were clubs, but there were also spears and ax-like weapons. Dave selected one of those clubs that looked like a cricket bat with hard, sharpened stones embedded along its edges. He also selected a knife that appeared to be made from the claw of some large predator. Kathy chose a spear and a stone knife, and Zolna, a stone ax and a knife.

  Brenda selected a club, a spear and a knife. Cassie selected three throwing spears, and Mitch picked a single heavy lance.

  The red dwarf had entered the area of the sky indicated by Le'ha. As promised, she and Illat joined the six Ukse in front of the pyramid. They were carrying bundles on their backs that looped over the right shoulder and then across the chest to meet the bottom of the pack at the left hip. Both she and Illat bore war clubs, spears with those throwing devices that resembled Aztec Atlatl, as well as knives.

  Le'ha had changed 'clothes.' She wore a simple loincloth, hand-painted with geometric designs. The leaves and flowers were gone, but the feathers and the shiny things still adorned her body.

  In contrast, the Ukse’s uniforms were in rough shape. Dave and Mitch no longer were dressed in survival suits. The suits of the others were still working, hiding the wearer's thermal signatures, but they were filthy and torn.

  Dave's and Mitch's field uniforms, which all were wearing under the S-suits, were taking the brunt of the forest's beating. They were torn and soiled. Dave thought that they were starting to look like the uniforms they wore in Oceania, except there were no sweat stains, of course.

  ○O○

  Kathy was trying to keep her tattered uniform closed at the front. The velcro was so full of twigs and dirt, it wouldn't stay closed. Le'ha watched Kathy a moment and noted all the Ukse's clothing then offered a suggestion. "Take off these clothes," she said. "We will paint you to look as we do, and your appearance will frighten the animals hunting in the woods." Then she looked at Kathy and said, "You are so pink I think you do not need paint. You are very frightening now."

  "Uh-huh," Kathy muttered. "Ya know, honey, you are all but naked now."

  "Other Ukse have said this. But our skin is tough against the plants of the woods, our feet are hard, and our colors ward off the many who would hunt us. Your clothes are not needed."

  "Look, Le'ha," Kathy stepped close and spoke low. "In our culture we don't let our males see us without clothes on."

  "Ever?" Le'ha asked.

  "Well…there are times and situations when—"

  "Then let now be a time. Let this be a situation. You will be more comfortable."

  Kathy glanced over at Dave who was speaking to Illat. "No," she said slowly, "I don't think I would."

  "Then, we go," Le'ha declared.

  "Just a moment," Kathy walked over to where Cassie and Mitch stood, then called everyone together, they were quickly joined by Webster, Zolna, and Dave.

  "Well," Kathy said, "this is where we part. We each have a critical mission. Mitch, Cassie, Brenda, you have to report to the general that the Indigs will hold off an attack, and tell him what the natives say is going on in the clinic. Download your recollections to an SD chip and let him see for himself.

  "Dave, Zolna, and I are going to the clinic to confirm those reports. You tell him that, too.

  "Illat will accompany you three all the way to New Roanoke. If anything goes wrong, Illat will come to us and tell us. And should anything go wrong with our mission, Le'ha will go find you. They can move with greater speed through the forest than we.

  "I think our greatest variable here is your reception at New Roanoke. When we left, tensions between the IIEA and the CDF were strained, to say the least, particularly after the IIEA ambushed us. We have no idea what's happened back there, so you guys be careful." Kathy stuck her hand out toward Cassie. Rather than accept her hand Cassie sprang forward and hugged Kathy, who was greatly taken aback.

  "Please be careful, Kathy," Cassie pleaded, "and hurry back to us."

  "Don't worry, Cassie, we'll be fine. Let's go."
/>   Everyone else shook hands except Le'ha and Illat. They stepped close to one another. They then placed the palms of their right hands flat upon the other's chest. Stepping back, each bowed slightly. Illat then joined Cassie, Mitch, and Webster. Le'ha joined Kathy, Dave, and Zolna and the two parties departed the city of Vortain Val Leasa by different paths.

  Le'ha led them out of the city, back to the stone bridge over the river Kau'Etay. After crossing the river at the bridge, they turned southwest toward the upper River Hau, and followed it south. Zolna was relieved to learn they would not be crossing the river at the three-rope bridge.

  "Le'ha." Kathy trotted up beside the tall woman whose giant strides made keeping up with her a challenge. "We got a late start, and it will be dark soon. Do you plan to keep moving all night?"

  "No. My body grows tired and says to me, sleep. You with the white blood, who do not sleep, you will watch and I will rest well."

  "Right, gotcha."

  "What does this mean, gotcha?" Le'ha asked.

  "It means…I understand you."

  "Does not eye to eye mean the same?" Le'ha asked.

  "No, it means we're in agreement."

  "Why do you not just speak what it is you mean?"

  "Ah, yeah," Kathy murmured. “That’s a good question. Frankly, we humans have a long history of talking around what it is we want to say.”

  The small band found themselves on the extreme western extent of the southern mountain range, between the tall peaks to their east and the roaring river two kilometers away to their west, just as the red star dipped toward the horizon.

  "This is a dangerous place," Le'ha said. "Night, near water where everything comes to drink, and hunters come to prey on the thirsty."

  They entered a clearing in the forest and before them stood the remains of several stone buildings; most were small, but there was one very large structure that reminded Dave of an ancient mission church due to the presence of a tower that looked to him like a steeple.

  This church was built into and made part of a low hill; it was sixty-one meters long, almost seventy meters wide, partially standing on a truncated pyramid eighteen meters wide and nine meters high. In the southwestern corner of the first courtyard stood the square tower that rose twenty-two meters above the floor of the yard. It had three stories with large openings, like windows, looking toward the four cardinal points. Like the city they had just left, it, too, was crumbling and being devoured by the forest.