The Halcyon Dislocation

by Peter Kazmaier

  Hanomer emerged from the tunnel. “Hanomer, can your scouts reconnoiter without being seen in this light?” whispered Dave.

  Hanomer crept up onto the low hill and looked at the topography. When he came back, he said, “It can be done safely. There is enough cover that they will not be seen.”

  “Could you send out your scouts then and tell me the situation on the island?” asked Dave.

  Since Dave had spoken in Hansean, the Hansa following Hanomer immediately understood and complied, without waiting for Hanomer to respond. By now all the freed captives had arrived. They were armed with clubs and other such weapons as they could find. Some had crude swords taken from the dead ape¬men, but most had clubs made from the broken scaffolding. When they were all assembled, Dave climbed to the top of the cliff, stretched out on his belly, and looked about the island.

  There were fires and bodies everywhere. There were hundreds of ape¬men, but many were standing still, while others were wandering aimlessly. Looking to the south, Dave could see that the remaining free Halcyonites were still on top of the low hillock that had served as a headquarters. They were being assailed by the turncoats from the citadel who had gone over to Hoffstetter. The free Halcyonites were hard pressed, since they were throwing rocks and sticks while Meglir’s men were still firing arrows. There was no gunfire.

  Seeing one of the Halcyonites fall with an arrow in his side, Dave didn’t wait for Hanomer but ran straight at the turn¬coats. Pam and the others followed. Dave ran silently but swiftly and came upon a group of Meglir’s men shooting at the Halcyonites from the cover of a grove of trees. Dave was almost on top of them when one of them saw him and, with a cry, turned to shoot. Dave felled him with one blow.

  By now Dave’s companions were among them, and the turncoats dropped their weapons and ran south toward the river. Dave pursued them to the water’s edge but couldn’t bring himself to cut any more down now that they were defenseless. Reaching the shore, the turncoats didn’t hesitate, but jumped in and began to swim back toward Fort Linderhof.

  Dave and his companions ran back toward the hillock where the battle continued. He saw that Hanomer had already arrived, and his accurate arrows were keeping the remaining turncoats pinned down. Dave was just regrouping his company for another charge when the remaining turncoats also broke cover and ran for the river. They passed right past Hanomer’s position, but he had too much compassion on the fleeing traitors to shoot them in the back. In they end they too escaped into the river.

  Now that the heat of battle was over, Dave felt very tired. Still, he knew reinforcements would be coming, and if they gained the tunnel they could easily overwhelm his meager forces.

  “Hanomer, if those reinforcements reach the tunnel, we’ll have a tough fight on our hands. If they break out of the tunnel, we’ll be lost.”

  “Dave, scouts have just reported back that the many ape¬men are leaderless and wandering aimlessly about the island. If Meglir is with the relieving force or if the guardian recovers control, the ape¬men will attack. We should destroy them now!”

  “All right. Set six of your best archers to guard the tunnel entrance. Have the rest hunt down, and destroy the ape¬men before they become a threat.”

  “What are you going to do, Dave?”

  “I’m going to try to get the holdouts on the hill to stop fighting so they can help us deal with Meglir. I think they still have explosives, the materials they used to destroy the tower in the citadel, and we may be able to seal the tunnel.”

  Hanomer ran off, shouting orders for the Hansa to cover the tunnel, and to begin the hunt for the ape-men.

  Dave shouted to the Halcyonites barricaded on top of the hill.

  “This is Dave Schuster. I’m on your side. I am not your enemy. All of the traitors have fled to the river. More are coming to attack. I need your help to stop them.”

  A voice he didn’t recognize answered back. “If what you say is true, come up here to talk, but you must come unarmed.”

  Dave began to unbuckle his sword belt. “Don’t go up there, Dave,” said Pam, clutching his arm. “You don’t know if you can trust them. We don’t even know what they’ve done to Al.”

  “I know, Pam, but I don’t have any choice. I’ve got to convince them to plug that tunnel, or we’ll all be dead.”

  He started to walk up the hill, his hands raised above his head. Pam started to follow him.

  “No, Pam, not both of us. I think you need to look for Al. He’s got to be here somewhere. I’m sure they wouldn’t have harmed him, even if they didn’t believe his story.”

  Pam hesitated. He could see she was wavering. There were tears in her eyes. Finally, she turned and ran to look for Al.

  Dave resumed his walk up the slope, raising his hands in the air. There were bodies of ape¬men and some Halcyonites scattered on the grass. At the top, a crude barricade had been constructed, and the ugly barrel of a gun was pointed at his chest. As he came close, two men rushed out, dragged Dave behind the barricade, and threw him on the ground. Dave did not resist while they tied his hands behind his back and hobbled his feet.

  “All right, Schuster, tell your furry buddies to keep their distance or you’re dead.”

  “You’ve got to listen to me; you’re in danger!”

  Someone kneeled on his neck and the voice said, “You tell your buddies to keep their distance, or so help me, I’m gonna kill yah.”

  Just then a shout rang out. “It’s me, MacDonald. Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed, and I’m coming up.”

  In a few seconds Dave heard the sound of someone climbing over the barricade.

  “Commander, am I glad to see you!” said a relieved voice.

  “Let Schuster go,” said MacDonald. “It’s all right. He’s a friend, and he’s rescued us.”

  “But Commander!”

  “That’s an order, Norgaard.”

  Dave felt his hands released. He was lifted to his feet.

  Norgaard offered his hand. “No hard feelings, man. I thought you’d gone over to the enemy.”

  “Yeah, I see your point. ... Al!”

  Al had just climbed over the barricade. Dave stepped over to him, and they clasped arms. “Man, are you a sight for sore eyes! I was afraid you’d bought the farm when you went on that hair-brained excursion to the island.”

  “I knew you’d come!” said Al.

  “I was going to leave you for your foolhardy decision to come alone, but Pam would have none of it!” Dave said, smiling broadly.

  “It’s my fault,” said MacDonald. “I didn’t believe him. This attack would have succeeded if you hadn’t come.”

  “Listen, Glenn,” said Dave, “I mean, Commander MacDonald. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When we attacked there was another force moving down the road from the Dead City. If they get into the tunnel and break out, we’ll be finished. We just don’t have enough to hold them off.”

  “I don’t know the tactical situation. What do you suggest, Dave?”

  “Give me a second,” said Dave. He walked to the barricade and called for Hanomer.

  His friend came up the hill quickly. The soldiers couldn’t help staring at the furry creature. Dave went to him and knelt down, held the Hansa’s shoulders, and asked, “What’s the tactical situation on the ground?”

  In English Hanomer replied, “I have set a guard at the tunnel entrance. We must hold off the ape¬men and turncoats as long as we can, and then try to make our escape.”

  “No, wait a minute,” said Dave.

  He turned to MacDonald. “Commander, do you have a demolition team?”

  “Yes; why? Of course! You want to blow the tunnel. Can you buy us the time?”

  “Get the demolition team moving as fast as you can. We’ll take up positions in the tunnel.”

  Dave raced down the hill and picked up his crossbow and sword. As Dave and Hanomer were organizing their forces by the tunnel entrance, the
Hansa scouts returned and reported that all the ape¬men on the island were leaderless and could easily be destroyed. A large number of survivors from the island had also been located in a compound nearby. They had been destined for Hoffstetter’s chain gangs.

  Chapter 41 A New Beginning

  Dave, Hanomer, and Al held council with the Hansa at the tunnel entrance. When their old friends from the platoon saw them, they came over to join them. Gradually others joined as well. A murmur of surprise rose from those who had never before seen the Hansa.

  “We have to get off this island,” Dave said to those assembled.

  “Why?” asked Daniel Johnson, the platoon commander in charge of Fort Linderhof. “We’ve won, haven’t we?”

  “We haven’t won,” said Dave. “We only have a reprieve. The ape¬men have stopped fighting only because we destroyed the guardian. When Meglir, that is to say Hoffstetter, arrives from the Dead City, he will regain control over the ape¬men, and the battle will resume.”

  At that moment a scout emerged from the tunnel. “Meglir is approaching down the road with many ape¬men and a contingent of his men!” announced the scout in Hansean.

  “We need to do two things,” said Dave, “first, destroy any of the wandering ape¬men, and second, block up the tunnel. Commander MacDonald is organizing the demolition expedition. Who’s coming with me to hold off the ape¬men and the traitors while the explosives are set?”

  “I’m coming!” said Johnson, his eyes smoldering.

  Hanomer sent half his men to destroy the wandering ape¬men before Meglir could regain control of them, and then followed Al down into the tunnel.

  “Wait!” said Johnson. “We didn’t bring any solar packs and flashlights.”

  “No need,” said Dave. “You’ll see.”

  Dave led the way. He and the Hansa pulled out their light gourds. The tunnel sloped rapidly downward, and they could see perhaps fifty feet ahead in the light cast by the gourds. They met with no opposition. Finally, they came to the side tunnel to which the rock borer had fled when the guardian’s hold had been broken.

  “Why did the rock borer flee, Hanomer?” whispered Dave. “When we encountered them before, they attacked us.”

  “Let us pray he does not do so again, since we cannot easily defeat it. I think, friend Dave, the rock borer was in the power of the guardian, and when the guardian’s will was broken with the song and the fire, fear and pain drove the rock borer into hiding. It will remember its hunger soon.”

  Hanomer turned toward the far entrance. “Meglir has come.”

  Just then the first of the demolition team arrived and packed plastic explosives into a crack in the wall.

  “Here they come,” said Dave as the first ape¬men began lumbering up the passage. Dave and the Hansa began to shoot their arrows, and every arrow found its mark. Still the ape¬men kept coming.

  “Back away,” said Dave. He was down to his last six arrows. If they had to fight with their swords, he was going to lose a lot of his people in these close quarters. Just then he heard the scraping, grinding sound of the rock borer moving up the side passage. The giant form of the borer came around the passage, crushing the ape¬men in its path. Its tentacles pulled their bodies into its maw one by one, then extended towards Dave as it filled the whole of the tunnel.

  Dave sent the others back and retreated just ahead of the giant monster. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

  The passage was beginning to slope upwards when Dave felt Al’s hand on his arm. “Fire in the hole!” shouted Al.

  Dave and Al sprinted up the passage as fast as they could. As they cleared the entrance, MacDonald waved to them from behind a rock pile. They dove for cover. MacDonald nodded to a soldier, who threw a switch.

  The ground rocked. Dust and debris blew out of the tunnel entrance. Climbing out from their hiding place, they saw that the end of the tunnel had completely caved in.

  “We did it, sir!” said a breathless soldier. “The tunnel must have collapsed. We saw evidence for the explosion in the river.”

  “Thank God!” said MacDonald. He and Dave hurried back to Headquarters Hill. MacDonald used his binoculars to follow the activity at Fort Linderhof for a while. Satisfied at last, MacDonald smiled.

  The river was brown with silt from the explosion. Debris from the collapsed tunnel slowly floated by on the gentle current.

  __________

  Al was tired. Very tired. But he had to find Pam. He asked Hanomer if he had seen her. Hanomer said she had gone to the east end of the island hunting for ape¬men.

  Al moved east quickly. If there were still ape¬men about, Meglir’s proximity would mean that they would attack. When he reached the woods at the eastern end of the island he was relieved to see Pam walking back with a number of Hansa. Al stopped, not knowing what to do.

  When Pam saw him, she ran up and threw her arms around him. “Oh, Al, I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  Al felt himself turning crimson and only held her gently. She fell away and looked at him. “What’s the matter, Al?”

  “Listen, Pam, I know I’ve been too forward lately, and I guess I’ve taken things for granted.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Pam.

  “I think I’m saying things badly,” said Al.

  “No kidding,” said Pam. “You’re not making any sense at all. What are you trying to say, Al?” She kept her arms around his neck.

  “Pam, I want to help you get your little boy back.”

  “Why would you help me do that? He’s not your son.”

  “You do want him out of the Staycare Center in Halcyon, don’t you?”

  “Desparately!”

  “Well, I want him out too, only we can’t get him right now. Things are too dangerous. We need to wait until things calm down and I need to plan.” Al looked at Pam. She had a look of complete incredulity.

  “You won’t owe me anything,” he added, “if that’s what you’re worried about. There are no—”

  Pam stopped him with a kiss. Al was bewildered. She stepped back, looked at his face, and burst out laughing. “You don’t have a clue, do you, Al?”

  “Probably not.”

  “You really don’t know anything about women.”

  “No, Pam, I really do not know much about women.”

  “Never mind, my dear, clueless, Al. Despite the fact you know less than nothing about women, I love you, and I’ll take my time educating you. Now let’s go back and find the others.”

  I may not know much about women, but I seem to be doing all right.

  Yes, quite all right.

  __________

  MacDonald planned to leave for Halcyon first thing in the morning. Still, they would pass an uneasy night. In case of an amphibious attack, he had posted lookouts all along the southern shore and kept a continuous watch on the far bank from Headquarters Hill.

  Floyd’s platoon did not have any assigned duties, so they met to discuss their next steps.

  “What are we going to do?” asked Floyd. “Al, you’re certainly a wanted man back at Halcyon, and many of us may be as well. Do we really want to chance going back there?”

  One of the others, Hugh Matthews, spoke up. “Maybe we don’t have to go back to Halcyon. My brother is a Dalyite, and he says they have a stronghold called New Jerusalem on the mainland. I don’t know where it is exactly, but I know it’s somewhere on Botany Creek. If we find it, I’m sure they’d take us in.”

  The friends from the first expedition looked at each other, as tempting memories of that place filled their minds.

  “I’m not going back either to Halcyon or to New Jerusalem,” Dave said quietly. “I’m going to stay with my Hansa friends.”

  “How are you going to get back to them?” asked Floyd.

  “We have to drop Hanomer and his company off anyway. When you drop them off upriver from Fort Linderhof, on your way back to Halcyon, I’ll go with them, and I’m sure we won’t have any trouble making our way back to
the tributary into Lake Tor.”

  “What about the rest of you?” asked Matthews.

  “What about the renegades? Won’t we run into them, trying to get to this New Jerusalem place?” asked one of the others.

  “We’d have to watch our step, but from what my brother, Jared, has told me, New Jerusalem has many natural defenses and should be able to hold out against the renegades, even if they find it,” answered Matthews hopefully.

  “What are you going to do, Al?” asked Floyd.

  Al looked at Pam for agreement, and then they stood up. “At first we thought we’d go back to Halcyon, but after looking at it from all angles, we decided we couldn’t go back openly. For now we’ll be going with Dave to join the Hansa at Torburg.”

  “But you were a Dalyite once, Al,” pleaded Matthews. “You know the areas around Botany Bay. We need you to lead us to New Jerusalem. Why won’t you help us?”

  Al sighed and then said, “Hugh, I’ll do all I can to help you get to New Jerusalem. I can draw you a map that will get you to the headwaters of Botany Creek, but don’t ask me to go either to Halcyon or to New Jerusalem.

  “I have a dream; I want to live in a place that allows me to worship and honor God without having roadblocks thrown in my way at every step, and where the whole political and educational system is designed to grind my beliefs out of me.”

  “That’s true of Halcyon, but not of New Jerusalem,” said Matthews. “They would encourage you to worship God.”

  “That may be true,” said Al, “but what about my friends Dave and Floyd? They don’t worship or believe in God. I want to live in a place of complete freedom. Good, honest people ought to belong and be accepted, even if they don’t believe. Could they do that in New Jerusalem, where there is so much fear of becoming another Halcyon that honest dissension is taken as rebellion?”

  Matthews gave up. “Is anyone coming with me to New Jerusalem?” Six hands went up.

  In the end some forty-five souls asked to go with Dave to Torburg, but Tom and Dwight were not among them. Dave spoke to Hanomer, and Hanomer, to Dave’s surprise, welcomed the Halcyonites.

  “We have always been stronger,” said Hanomer, “when our peoples have fought together against the enemy. Let us do so again.”