“You ate my tin of meat. You're lucky.”
“Yeah, sorry. Why am I lucky?”
“You're still alive. That tin was four years old. What have you been eating since they caught you?”
“Same as this ... anything they thought we might eat from the old town. Mostly rubbish. Got some great tomatoes a week back.”
“My tomatoes...”
Ben leaned back in the unstable chair and studied the unlikely individual seated opposite. At the time of the attack, she must have been a child, a teenager now grown into a beautiful young woman.
“What in the Gods' halls are you doing here? My reports say the Tolleani wiped out this colony.”
“I wasn't in the town when they attacked. I hid in the forest. The monsters never found me.”
“You survived all this time in these mountains?”
“No.” Echo squirmed in her seat, self-conscious beneath his scrutiny, as if his eyes were undressing her. “I went home after they left, and stayed there for three years. Twelve months ago they came back, so I moved here.”
“And they never come after you?”
“They don't know I'm here.”`
“I doubt that!” Ben wondered how she had coped, surviving alone in the wild surrounded by the remnants of her lost life. Unconfirmed – and obviously wrong – reports said the enemy had attacked, destroyed the colonies and abandoned the planet, moving on in accord with their normal convention. Ergo, this girl should not be alive!
Echo sat in silence as her visitor ate. Unable to help herself, she fixated on his every movement. Still a little wary, she accepted that he did not pose a threat. After all, they were in the same situation. Gods, he's beautiful, she thought.
Despite her best efforts, she could not drag her eyes away. Perhaps in his early thirties, she thought him the most attractive man she had ever seen, despite his current state of disrepair. Not that she had a lot with which to compare. He was older by ten years or more, but that did not concern her. They weren’t lovers; it wouldn't matter then, either.
Whenever she attempted to focus elsewhere, her attention drifted back to his bloodied, unshaven face, and the sound of that deep, silky-smooth voice. Despite being covered in scratches and grime, and looking like the survivor of an animal attack, this man spoke with confidence and self-assurance, not at all perturbed by the strangeness of the situation in which he now found himself. He behaved as if he had been here for years, and she knew nothing about him, including his name.
“Who are you?”
He barely pausing from eating. “Ben Teague. You?”
“Oh! Echo ... Echo Bourke. When I saw your ship I thought you were my rescue.”
“Oh, sorry ... no! We didn't expect survivors here. The Tolleani never leave...” For a moment, he stopped. “Why 'Echo'?”
“My dad's pet name for me. He's dead now. He used to say I always bounce back, like an echo. My real name's Cinta, but no one ever calls ... called me that.”
A frown furrowed her brow as she spoke, fingers fidgeting, never stopping for more than a few seconds as they tapped out an irregular rhythm on the tabletop. Those deep, piercing eyes had not left Ben since his rude awakening.
“Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I'm quite harmless.”
Echo sat back and sighed, but still did not divert her gaze.
“How do I reach the airstrip from here?” Ben asked. “Can you tell me an easy way?”
The question startled Echo, dragging her back from the fringes of her imagination. “What, now?”
“No ... soon. Sleep first and then back to my ship. Those bastards disabled it somehow, and forced us down; I need to know how they did it.”
“What happened?”
“We flew over the other towns and the air base, but they were deserted ... wiped out. We expected the same here, but when we arrived, our drive systems cut out without warning, forcing us to land at the mine. Something disabled critical circuits in the ship engines. I think they have a new weapon, something never seen before.”
“What about the monsters? Didn't you spot them before you landed?”
“No, the place looked deserted. No ships, no aliens ... nothing. We waited for an hour before stepping out to check the engines. I was about to go back on board when the Tolleani appeared from everywhere. It was a well prepared trap; they expected us.”
“Why would you ... I mean, you can't go back. You only just escaped.” Overwhelmed by the sudden appearance of another human being, she had never considered he might not stay. “It's unsafe! They'll kill you!”
“No choice. I'm a naval officer. It's my duty to find out how those bastards grounded us, destroy whatever they used, get my ship back and rescue my crew; they’re still prisoners. And this outpost must be reported.”
“They'll kill you!” Tears welled in Echo’s eyes. After years of waiting, someone had come for her at last, and all he wanted to do was leave again. If he died, so did her chance of escape.
“I'll avoid that if I can.” he replied. “Can't sit here and do nothing. Got to try, at least.”
At that moment Echo realised he would not be dissuaded. A military officer, and a spacer, he would always put duty first. “Can I ... you ... you'll take me with you when you go?”
“Yes, of course. After I have my ship and crew back, we'll pick you up ... can't leave you on your own. I doubt you would survive here much longer.”
“I am not helpless, thank you!” Echo blushed, incensed by his assumption. “I'm perfectly capable of surviving alone.” She knew it was not true: food was getting scarcer, survival becoming harder. She did not want to stay any longer. Not now!
“I'm sure you are, but I'm still a fleet officer. I have a duty, and you are now part of that, regardless.”
Echo's brow wrinkled. That this stranger should decide to make her his responsibility annoyed her a little, but equally she felt happy that someone, anyone, should care, especially a man. At this moment, she needed that more than anything else.
“Fine, I'll show you the way down tomorrow morning. You do know they'll catch you again, don't you?”
“Not if I'm careful. Any weapons here?”
“Only my crossbow. Oh, and some old kitchen knives.” Echo pointed to a battered carton on the floor by the stove.
“No guns?”
“I had some once, but the batteries went flat. Can't recharge them here.”
Ben rifled through the contents of the box, tested the sharpness of each item and extracted a heavy, wood-handled carving knife. As he rummaged further, he also removed a short, still sharp, paring blade.
“This'll do,” he said. “Um, where do you wash around here? You know ... clothes ... bath?”
Echo's face flushed as she realised how dishevelled she must appear, and that he noticed. “I don't worry too much on my own. Nobody to ...”
“No, me. I need to get the mud out of my clothes, and I'm a mess. Haven't shaved since they caught me a couple of weeks ago. I want to scrub up.”
“Oh ... you can use the stream.” He didn't mean me! “The pool out in front is good; you can dry your things on those flat rocks. The sun won't go down for hours.”
“Soap?”
“No, sand!”
Ben stopped as he neared the door. “Is the water safe? Any nasties?”
“No, its fine. Nothing here can hurt you unless you eat it. No dangerous animals except wild pigs and the bugs don't like us. I guess we smell bad to them.” She regretted her words immediately.
Ben grinned as he exited the cabin and headed in the direction indicated. Echo sat motionless at the table, her heart thumping and her skin hot with anger and embarrassment. Nice one, girl, she thought. Screw it up, why don't you. First man to come along in four years and you look like a shit-heap on legs!
Half an hour later, her self-discipline somewhat restored, Echo stood and peeked through the doorway. Drawn by the sounds of splashing, she crept outside. At the center of the stream, Ben sat on the rocks, h
is washed coveralls spread out beside him.
Unsure whether it was acceptable to be watching at all, she crouched behind the bushes. In the back of her mind, a faint voice warned it was wrong to invade the man's privacy, but she could not help herself.
Never before had she seen anyone like him. With his back to her and oblivious to her presence, he gazed downstream. Close to two meters tall and well muscled, his body glistened with wetness. The sight mesmerized her.
Neither thin and stringy like the boys from her school days, nor muscle bound like the workers from the mine, his body was well-proportioned, strong, sleek and trim. She wondered if this had anything to do with his being a spacer. Bulging muscles had never especially attracted her, but she liked what she now saw.
In the light of late afternoon, his toned skin glowed with a golden bronze tan. Not an ounce of fat betrayed the perfection, each muscle cleanly defined beneath smooth skin. Unaware of the strict physical regime required by the space services, Echo nevertheless knew what appealed, and for her this was unique. Familiar as she was only with the younger boys of her childhood, her image of the ideal man needed a serious readjustment.
Her eyes lingered on his short, brown hair. A dark line of tattooed characters ran down his right flank from below the armpit to the hip. Never before had she seen anything like that. It appeared to be letters, but in a language she did not understand.
Ben stood motionless, running fingers through his wet hair. Echo ducked lower as he turned to attend his clothing. Older and obviously more experienced, she thought, he most likely did not even view her as a woman. To him she was undoubtedly a child, and he appeared much too preoccupied with getting back to the mining compound to show any interest in her.
Ashamed of watching, she dropped lower behind the bushes. There was something deliciously wrong about spying on him like this, but despite a certain sense of transgression, it excited her. She wondered if she was just a ‘responsibility’ for him. Trying hard to regain her shattered composure, she crept away towards the cabin.
At the center of the stream, Ben rearranged his clothes to speed up the drying process. He smiled as Echo retreated. Thanks to his military training, he knew instinctively when he was under surveillance. He had not spotted her until she moved to leave, but he knew she was watching. The girl's curiosity neither bothered nor surprised him, considering her four years alone.
The bigger problem was his attraction to her. At this stage, he was unsure if it was genuine, or just the circumstances, but she had ensnared his mind from the moment they met. She was perplexingly attractive, if a little grimy and a lot naive. As far as he could see her figure was exceptional, and he suspected once cleaned up she would be beautiful indeed.
The girl had guts, and an independence of spirit he found appealing, but despite her apparent determination and self-sufficiency, insecurity overshadowed everything else; it was clear she did not want him to leave.
Her obvious interest made his position difficult. He could never be sure if her attention was from genuine interest, or simply that she needed him to rescue her. The later was something he did not need right now.
Regardless of his personal feelings, she was a civilian survivor, and therefore out of bounds. She was his responsibility, but if he failed to get his ship back, they would be stuck on this planet together. On the automatic assumption that his ship had fallen prey to the enemy, another would be a long time in coming.
As he watched Echo disappear into the cabin, a wistful sigh escaped his lips. He had not been close to any woman, much less such an enticing one, for a long time.
Chapter 06
Ben pointed towards the rear of the camp. “See the building over at the back. The laboratory is there. Three of those bastards are inside; two are working on what I think is some kind of bomb, and I'm guessing the other one is creating a biological weapon. There are also lots of other gadgets they are playing around with.”
Earlier in the morning, Echo had led the way on the two-hour journey down the animal paths to the valley. With the sun now halfway up the sky, she and Ben lay together on the rocky outcrop above the mining camp.
Motionless, Ben focused his attention on the compound. Echo lay quietly beside him, listening as he spoke. She took pleasure from the nearness of him; it was comforting having someone else around, someone to talk to and 'be with'.
Last night had not gone at all the way she hoped. Ben returned to the cabin before sundown, his clothes washed and his face shaven courtesy of the paring knife. He need not have bothered, she thought. A few days growth did not bother her in the least.
In the growing dusk, she had dashed down to the stream and taken a quick bath, attempting to wash away her resemblance to a back-alley urchin. Already she was beginning to view this almost total stranger as a friend, for reasons she could not quite explain. No doubt, Ben considered her appearance course and uncouth when compared to the women he must know from other, more sophisticated worlds.
Late into the evening, she had listened to his ramblings. Somehow, she could not focus on the content, and now, the following day, she could recall little of what he said. Images remained in her mind, but not the words.
There was mention of the war raging across vast regions of space – a conflict which humanity was losing – and about his plan to rescue his crewmates by sneaking back into the mine compound after dark. The detail was lost to her now.
Eventually he collapsed on the spare mattress and fell asleep, having behaved like a perfect gentleman. That was not what Echo wanted; she needed company, not a sleeping lump.
Shaking her head, she tried to drag her attention back to the present.
“Biological? How do you know?” she asked, responding to his earlier remarks.
“He works in a screened off corner of the lab, and always wears an airtight hazard suit. They locked us in a cage just inside the entrance, and I’m guessing they intended us to be the guinea pigs for his experiments. A disease for killing humans, maybe...” Ben shifted a little, trying to keep himself as low as possible. Echo shuffled with him, staying close.
“Whatever they're doing is super dangerous,” he said. “I'm betting they put the laboratory here in case something got away from them, or went wrong. I doubt they think this place would be much of a loss.”
“This is ... was ... my home.” Suddenly vulnerable, Echo hunching closer.
Ben could not help but be aware of her nearness. It was clear she had decided he was not an enemy, and now stuck to him like glue, making contact at every opportunity. The poor girl, he realised, was starved for companionship. It did not surprise him; after four years alone, he would have been the same.
“Don't lift up too high,” he said, feeling her body press against his. Responsibility aside, the sensation of a warm, beautiful woman so close was hard to ignore. The attention was enjoyable, but duty made it unacceptable. “They'll be over here in minutes if they spot us.”
“No, they won't. Those monsters don't like coming out here.”
Ben grunted acknowledgement. “The little shed next to the airfield fence ... I think that antenna on the roof is what bought us down.” He paused for a moment, surveying the compound. “The soldier's barracks and canteen are in those big buildings on the town side and the small one at the front is the commandant’s house and office.”
“Yes, I know.” Echo groaned, adjusting her position on the rock. “How do you? They locked you in a cage, didn't they?”
“Yeah, but they took us out whenever they needed someone to lift and carry. The Tolleani are a slave society and they avoid hard work in this sort of heat, if they can use prisoners instead.”
Echo pointed at a small structure well separated from the others. “The red building up at the edge of the mine apron is the explosives store. My Dad told me about it once. He worked in the ...”
“I need to be down there,” Ben said, as if oblivious to her words. “I want to make sure my ship is still okay.”
�
�The monsters will have figured out how to break in by now, surely. They've probably been right through it.”
“I doubt it. I activated the security systems before we stepped on to the tarmac. The second I saw soldiers running from the buildings, I hit the external lock and secured the ship, so the fuselage is live with a massive charge from the reactor. If they touch it, we get alien crisps in a split second. It can't be entered without damaging it, and I don't think they will do that.”
“Why not?”
“They want it intact. The commandant tried to force me to de-activate the hull, and assigned a guard, just one, to take me back to the airfield. I took the chance to get away and turned on him ... put him down before he realised what was happening.” Ben edged closer, subconsciously responding to her nearness.
“Funny thing about these guys”, he continued. “Despite our technology they regard us as only moderately intelligent animals, and never consider how we might react. It didn’t occur to them I would try to escape; they just assumed I would cooperate.”
“Did you kill the guard?”
“Humph!”
Echo turned her attention back to the compound. “Good! How did you get away?”
“I ran over the back towards the mine. There's a lake down there...”
“That’s where they pump water out of the shafts and store it ... stored it, to re-use in the dry season.”
“Okay ... so, I jumped in and swam across to the far side. The Tolleani won't go in the water, and the fools didn't manage to shoot me. There are pipes where you can squeeze under the fence. By the time they got around the pond, I was through, and into the trees. I went upstream, crossed back to this side, and headed north, heading for the naval station over the mountains.”
“And found my cabin instead!”
“Yeah, well, I ... kind of got lost.”
Solitude's End Page 5