Solitude's End

by Michael Waller

  Avoiding the flyovers was easy. As soon as the whine of engines reached her ears, Echo ducked for cover, having already found all the places she would be safe from detection. Ben spent most of his time in the maintenance hangar, and always sheltered in the fuselage of the dispatcher.

  The scouts were easy to detect when they came during the day, but at night when one slept, the risk was always greater. At first, Ben suggested they stay inside the ship, then decided the commander's residence, with its insulated walls and ceiling, would provide a safer and more comfortable haven. It was now their refuge and temporary home.

  It seemed an eternity since they had arrived at the base. Ben insisted the repairs, whilst a much bigger job than first expected, were 'do-able', and whenever he needed a third and fourth hand, Echo helped as best she could. Most of the time his head remained buried in a console somewhere, and at those times she busied herself with the task of keeping them both alive and fed, leaving him to concentrate on his work.

  She spent most of her time on the porch of the residence, watching the entrance to the base and the road to the town. If the aliens came to check on the place physically, they would come by air, or by that road. Given enough time, she could warn Ben and escape.

  Often she hung around the hanger, even when not needed, to provide moral support and just be close. Sometimes she wished he could spend more time with her; the memory of him standing in the stream entered her mind more and more frequently with each passing day.

  For now, at least, he had replaced the generic dreams of men that had kept her going through the years of her exile. Daydreams would drift through her mind, and then she would remember he was up to his armpits in manuals and wiring.

  Sometimes she passed the time by walking down to the settlement. In a back room of the PX she found a reasonable supply of still edible foodstuffs, a carton of packed rice and various other dried items, and the odd can which still looked safe. Technology had not yet failed them completely. As in her town, the farms here had grown wild, but still contained edible vegetables and fruit.

  Meat was a different matter. Unlike her home, this settlement did not have a river close by, and over the years, any animals managing to free themselves had migrated to distant water sources like the dam at the head of the town's supply pipeline, miles away in the foothills of the great coastal ranges. The need to drag a carcass so far home, made hunting there impractical. Only one small, open water source existed nearby.

  On the hillside behind the hangars, a large, concrete tank, gravity fed by the pipe from the dam, serviced the airbase. The system was still functional, and once Echo got the taps in the residence unfrozen, she had good, clean water.

  With no electricity – the only repairable generator was in the workshop, commandeered by Ben for his work – she used a portable gas cooker to heat water. After so many years of washing in a cold stream, it felt good to take a warm bath, something even Ben appreciated.

  Some useable weapons also surfaced. In a military establishment, it was inevitable guns would be found somewhere, and everywhere she went she kept a sharp eye out.

  During the original attack, fire from ships hundreds of metres overhead had cut down the base personnel before they could identify their attackers, and many weapons now lay corroded and useless in the open, scattered with the bones of their owners. Echo collected them for Ben's examination, but it was a wasted effort.

  Inside the remaining buildings, she found three laser rifles and a collection of needle guns, all with flat power cells but still serviceable. With a jury-rigged trickle device to recharge the batteries, several were now functional.

  From the commissary ruins, Ben retrieved a number of black maintenance coveralls. “Perfect,” he said.”These will do when I go back to the mine. The dark colour will hide me better at night.”

  Her best discovery came from an underground ordinance bunker hidden behind high concrete walls at the far corner of the airfield. As with the hanger, an alien lock secured the massive main door, but the device was no match for a sledgehammer from the workshops.

  Inside stood rack upon rack of weaponry, ranging from ship's missiles to small hand held grenades. How the stockpile escaped destruction, Ben could not fathom, but again, the fact that the Tolleani had inspected and secured the store concerned him, proof as it was that the aliens did come to this place, at least occasionally. After a thorough search, he retrieved a carton of explosive mines, which now sat in one of the rooms of the residence.

  “These are called 'daisy-chains,” he said, juggling one of the small donut shaped objects in his hand. “They're designed for tactical ground work. A couple of them can reduce a ship to scrap metal.”

  Ben pointed to the front of the device. “If you turn the dial clockwise,” – he indicated a series of five numbers around the right hand side – “you set it to a specific frequency for the radio trigger ... this thing here ... and you can work five different sets of charges off the same control by using different frequencies. Anti-clockwise, and you have an auto timer for anything up to ten hours. Connect them with these leads and the whole string acts like a single charge, triggered by the first unit. They're very, very cool.”

  “Can we use them?”

  “Oh yeah! I'll take a few with me when I go back.”

  Echo breathed out a long sigh. For so long, she had hoped he would change his mind, but now she accepted it was never going to happen. Military to the core, he always placed duty above self.

  Only now was she starting to appreciate how driven this man was. With hope for his crewmates all but gone, his attention was now totally focused on the activities of the aliens back at the mine.

  She understood him better now; the more she learned about him, the closer she felt. The thought that he intended to return to the alien compound sent her into a grey 'fug' that clouded her mind and refused to disperse.

  Since leaving the cabin a month earlier, they had made love several times, but somehow it was never the same, not like the first time. Her companion was gentle and attentive, and she enjoyed each time, but the magic of that first night never resurfaced. Lately, it lacked the urgency, the adrenaline!

  Always worn-out after working alone all day on the courier ship, his mind was often elsewhere unless she drew him back to the 'here and now'. Aware of his exhaustion, she accepted the situation, and pressed on.

  Barbus Koll grumbled as he peered at the computer screen, examining video from his tame scientists' latest little toy, a drone able to overfly any area without detection.

  They had many of these inventions, most of which they came up with in their off-hours. Koll knew he should have reported some of them to Command, especially the jammer that bought down the Terran ship, but there was always time for that in the future. For now, he had more important things to concern him. Specifically, he worried about how to overcome the damage this posting was doing to his career.

  For the last year, he had maintained surveillance of the other empty mine-sites along the coast, sending a scout ship once a week for a flyover. He hated such a colossal waste of resources, and so months ago ordered his researchers to find a better way. Their response was the small, virtually silent drone.

  Now the result appeared on the screen before him, a drone's-eye image of the main tarmac of the military base. Koll’s problem was, the airfield did not appear as deserted as it should. To one side of the apron, beside the disabled Terran ships, stood a shadow outline that could only be human. Reaching for the intercom, he called the barracks. “Brask, get in here now,”

  Less than a minute later the frantic officer knocked and entered the room, straightening his uniform as he came in.

  “Did you not report,” Koll asked, his voice calm and his eyes never leaving the computer screen, “that the two humans were destroyed when you blew up the cabin in the mountains?”

  The captain snapped to attention. “Correct, Coordinator,”

  “How do you explain this?”

  The
officer moved to Koll's side and looked over his shoulder. “Ah! Another one? How can that be?”

  “How, indeed. Are you sure you killed the others?”

  “Positive, Sir. The building contained two clear heat signatures when we fired. There was no possibility of their escape. This must be another, a second refugee from the initial invasion, I suspect.”

  “Why did we not discover it before now?”

  “The scout cars are extremely noisy. It would not be difficult for any survivors in the other settlements to hear us coming and hide someplace our detectors cannot reach.”

  The coordinator eased back into his chair, for a moment debating how best to deal with the situation. Most of the time Brask was a good officer and blaming him for this would achieve nothing. Conversely, the scientists complained every day about the loss of their specimens to the envoy from High Command. Perhaps a new one for them to play with, he thought. “Get your team together. Go to the airbase and catch that animal ... now!”

  “Yes, Sir.” Brask paused by the door on his way out. “Would it not be more efficient to destroy the place? The two scouts can level it in minutes.”

  “No, I want this human alive. Besides, I am on strict orders from Central Command to keep the air base intact until they can dispatch a transport carrier to retrieve one of those Terran ships. It is repairable, and they intend to use it for some kind of infiltration project.”

  With a quick nod the Captain left, pulling the door closed behind him. Koll turned to gaze out of his window. Another one, he thought. How many of those damnable animals are out there?

  Chapter 12

  Late in the evening, Ben returned to the residence and sat at the table opposite Echo.

  “It's done,” he said with a broad grin. “Maybe not the slickest boat in the fleet, but she’s space-worthy, and everything essential works. Tomorrow morning I'll re-fuel her; the ground tank still has enough to see us to a safe planet. It would be easier to move the ship out on the tarmac, but I’m going to leave her in the workshop. There are some fuel line extensions I can use.”

  “Why do it inside?”

  “Outside, she'll be visible to the weekly flyover. The Tolleani might choose to ignore something they don't consider a threat, but they won't overlook a new vessel sitting here, especially a military one. Besides, if the tank blows, I don’t want the ship anywhere near it.”

  “The flyover didn’t come this week. How about we roll the ship out, fuel up, and leave?” she asked with one last hope.

  Ben reached across to take her hand. “You know I can't do that. I at least have to make an effort to retrieve that research data. Whatever they are working on is, I think, so dangerous it may have serious implications for humanity. And there's the device they used to knock out my ship. Imagine what would happen to our fleets if those bastards installed one on each of their warships.”

  “Yes, I understand that now. I'm just afraid you will be caught again. So, what are we going to do?”

  “I'll fuel the dispatcher and park her inside the hangar door. When the time comes, we can fire up and roll out under power at a seconds notice. Once we are ready, I go back to the tollean camp, sneak in – with more care this time – break into the lab, find out what happened to my team, and steal the data block if I can. You better stay and guard the plane, in case.”

  “Not a chance! I'm coming with you.”

  Ben did not reply. He had expected that response. Anything else would have disappointed him.

  “I don't think your crew is still here,” Echo said.

  For a moment, he sat in deep contemplation. “No, most likely not!”

  After dark, Ben dragged a kitchen chair into the room they used for sleeping, and by the light of an oil lantern began pouring through a manual from the maintenance hangar.

  “What's the book?”

  “Refuelling instructions. Those pumps haven't run in years, so I’ll have to do it manually. That stuff is tricky, so I thought I'd brush up before I try anything.”

  Echo lay staring up at the mould on the ceiling, giving a loud sigh. Ben put the booklet aside.

  “Are you alright?”

  “No ... yes ... sorry.”

  “I know you want to leave this place, but everything will be fine, believe me.”

  “That's not it! I can't do this anymore. If you're killed I'll be alone again. I’m not sure I can handle that. Not again.”

  Ben moved across to the bed and pulled her up until they sat facing each other. “Listen, we need to clear something up.”

  “What?”

  “You! You have this stupid notion burned into your brain that you can't cope, or survive on your own any more, and that if anything happens to me you will be helpless. I feel flattered, but that could not be further from the truth.” Echo did not respond, staring at him through blurry eyes.

  “Look at the reality,” Ben continued. “Before the attack, the human population on this planet numbered about two thousand. Only one survived ... you! For four years, you kept yourself alive. When those bastards came back, you lived off the land for a whole year, hiding alone in the forest. You had the foresight to set up an emergency hideaway in the caves, and when I got myself shot, you killed my attacker and rescued me. When they destroyed the cabin, you saved us, and then got us to this base. And, you've kept us alive and safe while I worked on the ship. I don't possess your hunting and survival skills, and I am way out of my environment here; without you I would be dead from starvation by now.”

  “So ...?”

  “So, you are not helpless at all. Far from it. You are the most persistent and capable woman I've ever met, and I love you for that. You don't need me ... it's the other way around!” Ben sat back on his heels and smiled. “You can come with me to the Tollean base, but I want you to stay outside as a backup. If anything happens, I might need rescuing again. If I get myself killed, you will survive fine. Take my word for it.”

  “You said you love me!” Echo's eyes locked on his in the dim light.

  “Yes,” he said quietly. “I guess I did.” He kissed her gently, went back to his chair and picked up the instructions again. “I better finish this.”

  I don't think so! Echo jumped to her feet. As slow and seductive as possible, she glided over to Ben's chair, took the booklet from his hand and tossed it aside. Legs apart, she moved forward and straddled his knees, wrapped her arms around his neck and peered into his deep blue eyes.

  When the dawn light began to rise, she lay crumpled against his hard body, her mind drifting through balmy, nebulous daydreams. Of all the 'firsts' in her life since Ben's arrival, last night capped them all. In his embrace she felt safe, more so than at any other time in the last four years.

  Before the tollean attack no man dared approach even with her permission, not only because of the law – she was a child then, and the colony regulations were harsh regarding relationships with minors – but also because she was the daughter of the boss. She believed in all honesty that if any one of the men had touched her, her father would have castrated him.

  She had consoled herself with the boys of her own age who, like herself, took little stock in the adults' rules. Popular with them all, she let herself become close only to one. He had no more experience than she did. Their encounters were fun, but they were only games. With Ben, it was different; it meant something, and now that the ship was finished, his old intensity had returned.

  As the sun appeared, Echo rose to begin the new day. After breakfast, Ben announced he was going to refuel the ship, and disappeared in the direction of the maintenance hangar.

  He refused her help with this final chore, explaining the fuel transfer posed considerable dangers after four years of zero maintenance on the facility. With nothing else to do, Echo decided to go for a swim.

  On the hillside behind the airfield, a pipeline from the dam constantly fed the massive water tank providing water to the base. An overflow drained excess runoff, first into a broad, shallow, con
crete bowl forming a meter deep pond, and then by a channel to a gulley nearby.

  With no maintenance on the system for years, the surrounding vegetation covered much of the perimeter of the basin, giving the appearance of a small forest pool, and local wildlife came there frequently to drink. Constant overflow kept the water clean, and Echo found it a perfect spot to swim. She loved relaxing in the chill water, looking down through the trees to the airbase. It reminded her of her forest pool at home.

  By midday, it was almost time to return to the residence. Far below, Ben walked across to the feed-pipe control valves for the single tank still containing fuel. The hoses were gone, so the refuelling was complete; he had promised the task would only take a few hours, and he was good to his word. The now space-worthy ship was safely hidden inside the hanger, the doors firmly closed again.

  Propped on the concrete rim, Echo gazed in the direction of the distant mountains. Set back from the coastal ridges, the main range was much higher, and the tops of the distant peaks were snow capped year round despite this world’s hot climate.

  On the far side of the compound, something moved by the entrance. Beyond the damaged sentry post, a vehicle came to a stop; several bulky figures climbed out then strode purposefully through the gate. Damn! Echo thought. The monsters had arrived. She wondered if they were aware of her and Ben’s presence?

  At first, her response was to shout a warning. Before words could leave her mouth, she stopped and ducked down again. With no chance of getting to her man in time, and nothing but a crossbow for defence, she could do little to help him. Yelling would only alert the aliens to her presence. Determined to help Ben, she scrambled from the pond and ran down the track towards the back of the airstrip.