by Calista Skye
She looked up. She might have to get out. This was the deadliest planet known, but the jungle hadn't had time to grow back after the Fire had passed. The danger right here wasn't so much the Fire as flying creatures like the dragon-like firebirds.
There was nothing moving in the sky.
She popped the hatch, and the sour, penetrating stench of the Fire hit her senses so hard she had to steady herself on the frame to not collapse. An avalanche of memories rushed through her mind, all of them unpleasant.
This is the price we pay for failure.
She looked up and around. Still no movement anywhere. She jumped down onto the spongy ground, then walked fast over to the oval object, keeping a sharp lookout to the sky.
Nothing attacked her, and she stopped a few paces from the Kunuru ship. After that explosion she would have expected it to radiate heat, but instead it seemed to be absorbing it. The air was noticeably cooler the closer to it she went.
She walked up to it and knocked on the ice cold metal. There was no resonance – it was like knocking on concrete. “Hello? Anyone in there?”
“No,” said a chilly, ghostly voice from behind her.
Ava yelped and almost jumped out of her skin. “Oh, fuck. You scared me.”
It was a Kunuru, smooth and tall and thin, with brown bones on the outside of its body and milky eyes on the top of its pointy head. Its hands were long and clawed, like Nur's had been. But this one was clearly a different individual. He looked older, more weathered and more frail.
“And you killed the Hierarch of Fifteenth Rank, Nur.”
The Kunuru spoke English like a 1950s radio announcer, very singsong and stilted. That was probably a clue to how he had learned the language. Earth had been beaming speech and radio waves out into space for almost two hundred years.
“I didn't kill him, but I understand what you mean,” Ava said slowly. “It was a terrible mistake. I was pressured into bringing along a bodyguard, and he went beyond his rights. I did not want Nur to die. I only want friendship with the Kunuru.”
“Mistake,” the alien mused. “Terrible. Yes. We are eighteen now. We had been nineteen for a long time.”
“I'm very sorry. The leaders of the Earth are extremely angry about what happened. About the death of Nur. I have been instructed to apologize on behalf of our people.”
“The death of Nur,” the Kunuru repeated. “Resulting in the death of Earth.”
Shit.
“The people of Earth only want peace and friendship. Peaceful cooperation with the Kunuru.”
“Friendship is the absence of war. Yet, Nur is dead.”
This wasn't really working. “He is dead, and we regret it very much.”
“Vrun stated that we are to cleanse the universe of everything that is not worthy of him. Yet you cleansed the universe of Nur.”
Time to change topic. “Why are you here on the Fire Planet?”
“The Fire is sacred to the Acerex. Now we will dishonor and enrage them by quenching it.”
“You will extinguish the Fire?” It didn't seem to Ava to be such a terrible thing.
“The Acerex have failed us as the hammer to our anvil. This is their punishment. It will dishonor them and spur them on to become a better hammer. They will be angered and will attack our slave species with greater ferocity.”
“They're not a hammer at all,” Ava tried. “And Earth is not an anvil. We want everyone to live. We don't want to cleanse the universe.”
“Everyone wants to cleanse the universe.”
Of course they would think that. “We really don't.”
“Everyone,” said another voice, and a shadow fell on Ava.
It was another Kunuru, and this time Ava didn't yelp. But she was starting to feel small. And the shuttle suddenly felt like it was very far away.
“It is the purpose of all activity among the stars,” the newcomer said. He was taller than the first, and didn't look as old. “As Hierarch of First Rank, Sur, has just said. Every race wishes to conquer and cleanse the universe for its own use.”
“Seriously, we don't,” Ava stated as firmly as she dared. “We want every race and species to thrive in this big universe. We want to be friends.”
“We monitored the talks with Nur,” the younger alien said. “You stated your friendship. Then your Acerex killed him. One of our nineteen.”
“It was a terrible mistake,” Ava repeated. “Notice I'm here alone now, trusting the Kunuru to understand the value of friendship and peace.”
“We are friends,” the newcomer said. “Eighteen friends who were nineteen until recently.”
“Eighteen,” yet another Kunuru said, and another shadow fell on Ava.
“Eighteen,” said another, coming around their metallic ship.
“Eighteen.” Another.
“Eighteen.” Another.
“Eighteen.” Another.
There were so many tall aliens around her that Ava felt the first pangs of a bad panic in the pit of her stomach.
Still they kept coming, tall, spindly aliens with long hands, pointy heads and their brown skeletons on the outside.
“Eighteen.”
They stood in a circle around her, all eighteen of them.
Ava's heart was racing, and she felt panicky tears burning in the corner of her eyes. If they moved in now, and if they had any kind of weapon ... heck, they could probably kill her with those claws, tear her apart like a piece of grilled chicken ...
The first, older alien who was Sur, their leader, came forward with two gliding steps. “They murdered Nur.”
“It was a mistake,” Ava said and tried to keep her voice steady. “It was never supposed to happen.”
“Thus we must remove the Earth and dishonor the Acerex,” the old alien continued as if Ava hadn't spoken. “The Earth is powerful. The Acerex have not killed a single Kunuru until now. Nor has anyone else for untold cycles. Only when Ava of Earth commanded it did the Acerex kill Kunuru. We must protect ourselves against Earth and its might. Twelve billion there are. It is a plague such as the universe has never seen. Enough to murder many Kunuru.”
“We won't murder anyone,” Ava said, unable to keep her voice from trembling. They didn't seem to be listening. In desperation she turned her translator back on and turned the volume to max, no translation, just amplification.
“Nur was a mistake,” her voice boomed across the scorched landscape, and the Kunuru around her froze. “An accident. He did provoke Xark'ion, too. Maybe trying to dishonor him, I don't know. But Earth does not want to cleanse the universe. We wish only to make friends. Your allies are surrounding my world. Earth. Clearly preparing to attack. You exterminated the Ysal. And turned the Solp into your slaves. And ruined the world of Woor Five. It is you who are murderous. Don't judge others by your own flaws!”
That last part wasn't very diplomatic. But Ava had the feeling the time for conventional diplomacy was over.
“Let us listen no more,” a Kunuru said. “We will take the life of this lethal Earthling, then quench the Fire here on the Acerex planet, then order the attack on Earth. It will be a long war. Earth will murder many of the lesser species. Then, when their task is completed, we will murder the Earth. Before they can murder us.”
He suddenly had a pair of giant, alien scissors in his hand, similar to the ones that Nur had held and that had made Xark'ion attack him. The blades gleamed dully in the sun on the Fire Planet.
Ava took one step back, but only bumped into another alien. They were surrounding her, and the one with the huge scissors was gliding towards her on his spindly legs.
He held the scissors in both hands and slowly opened them, displaying the edges of the blades. Each was at least four feet long. He lifted the terrible weapon to the same height as Ava's neck.
She tried to run, but strong, clawed arms caught her and held her up towards the alien coming towards her.
“Let me go!” she yelled, and the translator made her voice boom again. “You misu
nderstand!”
The alien with the scissors was very close, and he calmly thrust the open blades towards Ava's neck. The claws holding her were hard and sharp, and if the fabric in her utility suit hadn't been so sturdy, they would have pierced her skin. But there was no way it would be able to prevent those blades from cutting off her head.
Her head was bent backwards by another set of claws, and now Ava thrashed and pulled and jerked and twisted in real panic, but she was held so firmly she only hurt herself. Especially her forearm, where something hard was poking her wrist-
In a flash she remembered it.
With her other hand she found the secret pocket at the suit's left sleeve, peeled it back with fingers stiff from fear and felt the warm, smooth wood inside.
Cold metal touched the skin of her neck.
She pulled the little tube Xark'ion had given her out of its pocket, pointed it at the head of the Kunuru holding the scissors and gave the end of it a firm push.
There was a wet thud, a shower of ice cold fluids splashed over her, and the Kunuru holding her let go from sheer shock.
The scissors fell to the now damp ground with a metallic rattle.
The alien in front of her swayed back and forth, then collapsed without a sound.
It no longer had a head.
Ava's knees buckled under her. “Oh fuck.”
The translator-amplified exclamation rolled over the burned plains like thunder.
34
- Xark'ion -
The village was different. It seemed colder, darker, less familiar. It was clearly the same place he had grown up. But now it wasn't a home. Ava had been there and left, and she had taken its soul with her. Without her it was a lesser place.
He wandered around the village and the woods, trying to capture something that just wasn't there anymore. The trees passed by him in the night, and there were probably predators nearby. But he didn't care.
He couldn't get her out of his mind. Everywhere he looked, he saw her face, heard her voice, saw the fluid jiggle of her luxurious behind when she'd walk in front of him.
Was he going insane? Was that something that came with aliens like her?
Or was it ...
He didn't want to complete the thought. If that was true, then he was condemned to a life of misery and longing. Because of course she never wanted to see him again after what he did to her and her project. Of course she could feel nothing but contempt when she thought of him and his lack of self-control.
So if she was in fact ...
He forced himself to think it. If she was in fact his Mahan, then they would never be together and he would never have a moment of happiness ever again. If he had betrayed the trust of his own fated mate, when she needed it the most ...
Well, then he deserved nothing better.
He could only hope that the wars would pick back up, so that he could return to battle and then hopefully die for his people before his discharge. Perhaps that would restore some of his honor.
He would not seek death. He would let the Spirits decide. That was the only way.
He had walked blindly in the woods, and now he found himself on the peak of a ridge where the trees grew more sparsely. The sky was black above him, the air as clear as he'd ever seen it.
The star that Bosh orbited was almost directly overhead. In that star system, in the harsh light of the Fire, he had become a warrior. He and Groti'ax. And in that star system, not far from Bosh, he had made the mistake of his life.
Now Groti'ax was gone. And Ava was gone. And there seemed to be nothing left at all.
A bright white star glided slowly across the sky above him. The Friendship was an impressive sight, even when the spaceship passed hundreds of miles overhead, in its orbit around Acerex.
And how true that name was. How friendly the Earthlings had been. How positive their influences. How sincere their good will.
That name wasn't a trick. They meant it.
He supported himself on a slender tree trunk. They meant it! They were genuinely friendly to all aliens. They, with all their immense military experience, huge tactical skills and impressive weapons, would truly prefer not to use them.
The thought was impossible, but it was still true, and everyone on Acerex was slowly coming to terms with it. After centuries of war in space, there existed a species and a people that truly, honestly wanted only friendship.
It was so unheard of that it had taken months and years for their offers of help and technology to be taken seriously. Even now, some tribes hesitated accepting Earth objects.
Earth had fought on the Acerex side in some battles, using their tactics that produced easy victories without the huge loss of life on both side that had been common before. They plainly didn't like killing.
Still, they were extremely good at it. And the Acerex appreciated it.
Surely their friendly attitude was their greatest strength. Approaching aliens with the outstretched hand and not the sharp blade was so unusual that the shock effect alone would be worth a million warriors. Ava's way of doing it was so clearly right for them.
But Xark'ion instinctively felt that their wide-eyed search for friends would be so much more effective if it was balanced by something else. Just friendliness had almost got them there. But not quite.
Xark'ion hadn't believed it. Not really. Meet the Kunuru with one small, unarmed woman and not with a thousand warriors? Madness.
But then it had worked.
Almost.
Until Xark'ion had ruined it. Until he had dishonorably-
A sudden flash went off in his mind.
He had to undo it.
He had to do whatever he could to reverse the damage done when he killed that Kunuru.
He looked up again. The calm star that was really the Friendship momentarily passed right in front of the Fire Planet's star system, occulting it for a split second.
Yes.
That was it. It wouldn't work, but it was something.
And maybe, just maybe, there was a chance. Maybe, if she saw him trying to make things right ...
He shook his head. No, ludicrous. Of course that couldn't happen. It was a childish fantasy. But that was out of his hands.
He walked fast back to the village and into his tent, loosened his sword belt and took his own old sword down from a hook on the central post. Then he slowly and reverently hung Groti'ax's black, ungainly blade there instead.
“You could use it, old friend. But we both always knew I never could. It is too good for me. And you had your revenge.”
He fastened his sword to the belt, felt how light it was compared to Groti'ax's.
Then he left his tent, entered the old shuttle that had brought him there and took off.
The instruments showed that the shuttle had enough fuel for the trip.
Maybe even back again.
But of course he would not be going back. This was a one-way trip.
- - -
He had barely exited hyperspace when he saw the white flash from the Fire Planet. Somehow he knew that it was important for his mission. He had never seen anything like it.
The planet was still far away, and the shuttle was old and slow. He accelerated as much as he dared.
Slowly Bosh grew larger in front of him. He remembered the first time he'd seen it. Just like this. He had been excited and afraid and young, knowing that the planet was dangerous, but not just how bad it was. Still he recalled the chemical smell in the jungle down there, the screeches from the predators, the firebirds and the hergs and a thousand other dangers. And the screams and hopeless sobbing from their comrades as the planet killed them, one by one.
When they'd finally been picked up, he and Groti'ax as the only survivors from their group of nine, they had been promised that they would never have to go back there again.
But here he was.
Nothing else could have made him come back.
Nothing.
Only Ava.
“I will ma
ke it up to you,” he mumbled, knowing it was highly unlikely. “I will make it right, my love.”
He unconsciously leaned forward in his seat, as if it would help the shuttle go faster. That flash had meant something. Possibly the Kunuru were there right now.
Finally he went into orbit around the Fire Planet and determined where the flash had come from. There was something that glinted in the sunlight. On the burned-black surface where the Fire had passed not long before.
Excitement rose in him as he went lower. That gleaming object was a large, oval thing that reminded him so much of the inside of the Kunuru comet that it had to have something to do with them.
Then he frowned. The instruments showed two craft down there. There was also a shuttle of Acerex design.
An ominous feeling came over him. Someone was here already. Warriors? Maybe even someone important? In talks with the Kunuru? He'd better be careful so he wouldn't ruin things again.
He set the shuttle down a good distance away and looked out.
The Fire Planet had not looked like this when he went through his Trials. That was on the other side of the Fire, in the intensely active and deadly jungle that dripped with flammable liquids that the plants produced. This didn't look remotely as dangerous. Even a herg would have trouble hiding in this flat landscape.
He popped the hatch and sniffed the air.
Immediately, vivid remembered images of death and danger shot through his mind. The firebirds. The hergs. The myriad of other predators. And the Fire itself, creeping ever closer, so fast they couldn't outrun it if it got too close.
And him and Groti'ax, those last days, when everyone else was dead, they were both injured and the Fire was so close they could feel the Blast Storm as it sucked the air towards it. They had known they would die, then. And Groti'ax had made a joke, and they had fallen over with laughter, in youthful and strangely euphoric defiance of the Fire.
He jumped down onto the black ground and started walking towards the two other ships. They could probably see him, but it was better to come walking and not to land right by the other ships and draw a lot of attention to himself. If something important was going on, it was better the less he disturbed.