All The Frail Futures: A Science Fiction Box Set

by J Battle

  Now she was here before a potential enemy, of power and intellect, and maybe evil. She must be sure to heed Xlytes words.

  ‘Please enter and be seated. We have configured this piece of furniture for comfort for your body type.’

  She accepted the offer, but found the seat a little too high, narrow and hard to be described as comfortable.

  ‘Before our discussion of our future plans begins, I should first ensure that you are fully cognizant of the inherent danger of exposure to our fellow traveler. If you have not met him yet, be very careful not to make any sort of contact with his body when you have that dubious pleasure.’

  She nodded; this was just what Xlytes had warned her about.

  ‘I have already met him, and I found him to be a perfect host, and he really cares about this mission.’

  ‘When we are discussing the future of our Galaxy, caring is hardly cause for praise. It is an absolute requirement. Do you care, Clessy?’

  ‘Of course I care!’

  ‘You will be leaving all you know behind, as shall Xlytes and Jashna-del.’

  She merely pursed her lips in response; she hated people who talked of themselves in the third person.

  'I am ready to serve, sir.'

  She did her best not to wilt under the pressure of his intense gaze, but it was a close run thing.

  'Why are you here?' His words surprised her.

  'I'm here to...'

  'No. Why are you here? Why have you been chosen to join this expedition? What skills, what experience, do you have? I understand why Xlytes is involved, much as I would prefer otherwise. But, why you, Clessy?'

  'Just as you yourself, Jashna-del, and Xlytes, I am merely following orders; nothing more.'

  Jashna squatted to bring his head closer to that of the little hominid.

  'Secrets? Is that what we have here? You are from the Mu Arae system and your species has brought considerable wealth to the Confederation; we know this much. Your species has undoubted influence; is that all this is? More political maneuverings? Someone important requires finance for a pet project and you end up getting in the way?'

  'With all possible respect, oh great and august Jashna-del of legend and power, I shall not be in anyone's way. I will make a contribution when the time requires it. If appropriate, if necessary, if I decide to share, then you may be informed of the details of my role; or you may not. After all, you are little more than security on this mission.'

  Clessy bit her lip. She had not meant to spit all that out at him, but he was getting on her nerves.

  Jashna stood up to his full height and glared down at her.

  'So, I'm the security am I? And Xlytes, what is he? The diplomat? What does that make you?'

  'As I believe I have already said, that will only be revealed if it is absolutely necessary, I hope you can gain understanding of the situation.'

  Jashna grunted. 'I understand. I understand. Politics; nothing more. But be wary of this, oh so important little hominid, I don't expect much contribution from you but, if you get in my way, if you seem to be harming this project in any way, then expect no compunction from me in removing that obstruction.'

  There was an awkward pause as she tried to think of an appropriately aggressive response. She was saved as the door opened behind her and Xlytes glided into the room.

  'You've met; that is good. And I hope friendship grows between you.' His squeaky little voice almost made her smile.

  'We have met, most respected Xlytes.' Jashna tightened his shudder wings at the interruption.

  'Good, good, good.' Xlytes noticed the stern expression on both faces. 'Time for us to leave, I should say. Our craft awaits; it is quite something special; you will see.'

  Clessy followed him back out of the room. Behind her, she could sense the great weight of the creature that followed her.

  Chapter 24

  Heldon’s journey had been cloaked in secrecy; and not just because that was the way she usually worked. This time she was breaking one of the most sacrosanct laws of the Confederation, as she was about to meet with one of The Denied.

  If her crime was ever discovered, it would be met with humiliation, ignominy and true death.

  The Selflief she was about to meet belonged to one of the few species considered too dangerous to be allowed to consort with Confederation members. The reasons for declaring a species one of The Denied were as varied as the species involved; perhaps they were too aggressive (the Hru-argh came very close to this classification at one time) or refused contact themselves, or possessed unknown and dangerous technologies. In any case it was considered better for the Confederation as a whole to have no contact with these dangerous creatures.

  The Selflief had something she needed, so she was prepared to break that quarantine, as long as she could keep it a secret. Even her exalted position in the Confederation hierarchy would not protect her if her breach was discovered.

  So here she was, many light years from the comforts of home, in the majestic ship that she so rarely used now, without her usual entourage of logistic support and defensive craft flitting about her sparkling ovoid like her very own orrery.

  If she’d arrived a thousand years earlier, she would have felt the heat of a medium sized sun, and there were still a small number of planets that revolved around that sun. But, in place of its blazing disc, was the dull inert bulk of a Dyson sphere, wrapped around the sun, absorbing all of its energy.

  What the Selflief needed all of that energy for, she didn’t want to know. She just wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible and move on with the next stage of her plan.

  For now, her ship was helpless; alone and defenseless; as was she.

  When the voice announced its presence inside her mind, she tried not to let her shock show; she’d expected the meeting to be a little more prosaic; face to face.

  ‘Why are you here? You break your own rules.’ Heldon felt disconcerted with the alien voice in her head. ‘Be warned that your ship will be destroyed unless adequate justification is presented.’

  ‘We need your help, in the defense of our Galaxy.’

  ‘Defense against?’

  ‘We are under attack, from external forces able to destabilize stars. We are taking action, but there are certain areas where you help could impact on the success of that action.’

  ‘Of what interest is this to us?’

  ‘If they are not stopped, there will come a time when your own star is targeted. If you do not aid us in our defense of the Galaxy from this attack, then it may be too late for even such as you to avoid becoming victim.’

  ‘Specify nature of defensive actions, along with areas of deficiency, timing, and pertinent requests for assistance.’

  This sounded like a good start to Heldon, so she provided all of the requested data.

  ‘Contact will be made after due considerations. In necessary payment for our time, we will accept something precious from you. Then we require you to be gone.’

  Heldon hesitated for a moment at this demand, then she felt her mind go cloudy and her stomached flipped, and then she found herself floating outside the environs of There, without her spaceship.

  As she eased herself through the complex structure of There’s walls, she considered the loss of the beautiful ship justified if she received the help she’d requested.

  **********

  Haard took his place once again at the Lectern of Beseechment, ready to bluster and cajole the assembled company into compliance with the Hru-argh's just demands.

  Behind him was his sub-dub, dressed up as well as it was possible, with a purple ribbon tied around its blunt snout.

  'Great masters of The Confederation, your kindness at allowing this interruption of you august considerations fulfils the legends of your greatness. I am here before you, filled with mortification, dismay and anger, and loss overwhelms me.'

  He paused for a moment, to consider the reaction of his audience. He noticed the presence of the member fr
om the Coal Sack Option Empire, and hoped that he would keep his thoughts to himself.

  'The utter destruction of the small expedition to Tau Ceti E, approved by the wisdom of this council, and seeking only to secure our historic entitlement, cannot be ignored. Under the restrictions imposed, wisely and justly by this honored assembly, our fleet was destroyed by weapons outside of our knowledge. Weapons of such range and destructive capabilities, that we all may be threatened by this evil species with time. They must be sought out and destroyed, lest they become the seekers, and we the destroyed.'

  'Small point to be considered, before your rant continues, honored representative of the great Hru-argh.'

  The speaker was not known to Haard, and he’d never come across this particular species before. It was a roughly cubic cage made up of light pink rods joined together by bright red spherical nodules. Within the larger external cage was a smaller cage, and inside that was another and so on and so on.

  ‘Forgive my unforgiveable ignorance, honored councilor, but your name is not known to me.’

  ‘Even so, the question hovers before me.’

  ‘And would you share that question with the council?’

  ‘Is it not clear to you? Have you no memory of the council’s decision? Or perhaps, within the mind of a Hru-argh, there is no difference between a single ship and a fleet of ships?’

  Haard felt a little tense; relieving that tension caused his sub-dub to leap forward with bucket and shovel.

  ‘Subsequent events proved us to have great wisdom. A single ship would never have prevailed against the force the humans were able to mount against us.’

  ‘And your fleet did so well? How many ships were lost? Was it 12. Or more?’

  ’12 ships were lost, and those words are hard to say. I come before this august and wise council to request your condonement of our next action; a full scale, invasion size fleet, with no restrictions on weaponry or tactics. We seek vengeance; yes, for that is only just. But we also seek to protect The Confederation from what we regard as the certain threat of future attacks from this new and dangerous life-form.’

  ‘What future plans percolate through your mind, oh bellicose one?’

  Haard glared at the creature, and a foul miasma drifted about the Lectern of Beseechment. His sub-dub had the temerity to cough.

  ‘We will rid the Tau Ceti system of this terrible curse. Then we will seek out and destroy all further outposts. We will find the human’s home system, and eradicate this blight on the future wellbeing of the Galaxy. We will do all of this for and on behalf of this council, and the great costs will be met from within our own funds. We expect nothing from this council but its acceptance of the justice and correctness of our actions. If at some stage the council feels that gratitude and even praise are once again due to the Hru-argh, then that would only be just.’

  The cube spun away, and Haard relaxed whilst his sub-dub cleaned him up as best it could.

  Chapter 25

  Snakes again, crawling all over his supine body, hissing and wriggling, wrapping themselves about his arms and legs.

  It was still a dream. He could feel them on his legs, so it couldn’t be true.

  He awoke with a throbbing head and heaving chest as his lungs tried to pull in the little oxygen that was available. He was sweating and his mouth was dry. With a long, old man groan, he sat up, and looked for his last water bottle.

  ‘Hi,‘ said Helen, already sitting upright with her back against one of the sleighs.

  ‘Oh, hi. Been awake long?’

  ‘You woke me a while ago, with your jerking and groaning. Was it a nightmare?’

  ‘No…not a nightmare; not really. Just…I don’t know. Weird, I suppose.’

  ‘Are we hanging around again, waiting for them to come back?

  They hadn’t seen the aliens for a couple of days and he knew that they really should be doing something positive about their situation. But moving around was so hard now, with just the one crutch, and the weakness that sapped at his will.

  He reached for his water, then stopped mid action. There was glowing band around his right wrist, and another wrapped around his left. He pulled at them; they resisted his tug. They were a couple of centimeters wide and maybe half as thick, fibrous, and lit with the same sickly green luminescence as the walls and the aliens.

  That was it. One of the aliens had discarded some of the threads that made up its body, and gifted them to him. He knew that it was a gift, given freely and with no hidden agenda. He lifted his shirt, and there was another, encircling his waist. Pulling his shirt off completely, he found that there were more, around his chest, across his shoulders and upper arms.

  Helen gasped, her hand to her mouth.

  He pulled down his pants and they were there, completely obscuring his thighs and enveloping his groin area. The only parts of his body free from the alien incursion were his artificial lower legs and his head.

  He should have been fearful, angry, shocked. But he knew that this was their gift to him, that, somehow, this was their way of showing their friendship; their way of keeping him alive. They had sacrificed parts of their own bodies, for his benefit.

  He dragged off his pants and threw them to the floor and studied his glowing body. At his feet, he could see more threads, wriggling along the ground towards him, eager to join their fellows, eager to join with him.

  ‘That’s disgusting!’ said Helen, as she pushed herself to her feet.

  ‘No…it’s kind of, I don’t know. Kind of good.’

  He felt the sudden tightening of all of the alien flesh that covered his body, and he gloried in that sensation.

  He took a deep breath; then another. He could actually feel the oxygen filling his lungs; the strength rushing back to his muscles.

  He took one last deep, lung filling breath. Then he did something that he was pretty sure he’d never done before in his life.

  He roared.

  *********

  Heldon bent her long graceful neck and looked closely at him; her great eyes reflecting the glistening blueness of his skin.

  She wasn't at all happy but, with Jashna departed on his critical quest, she had few suitable alternatives. One thing that could be said about Stave was that he was capable; unpleasant, unsettling, but capable. And he should be able to work well with these Human creature, being so close to them in form. But, most important of all, he was her creature; bound to her for as long as she cared to keep him.

  Heldon had summoned him to meet her in There, despite the presence of many of the most important of The Confederation's leaders, gathered together as the massive cylinder drifted through the emptiness of interstellar space.

  'Welcome and gratitude, honored and renowned Stave, most exceptional example and representative of his people.'

  Stave made no obvious response, other than to move closer.

  Heldon felt the weight of his dark purple eyes on her and did her best not to react.

  'A mission of import is offered to you, and the safety and wellbeing of The Confederation rests within your will. Acceptance is hoped for and desired. Rejection brings mortification, absolute and real.'

  Stave smiled; the split in his round hominid face revealing sharp jagged teeth.

  'Rejection, mighty one? Surely not. Honor washes over me at the thought of your beseechment. Give your instructions and have little worry for my response. As you are fully aware, I am not in a position to deny you.'

  'Then listen closely to my words and respond with dignity and honor and, mayhap, at some stage in the near future, if you continue to please me, then, yes, your most intense wish may be fulfilled.'

  Heldon spun a web of silence around them as she began to tell him what she wished.

  He listened intently, without reaction or question.

  When she'd finished, she asked for his response.

  'Wishes spoken are fulfilled. Wishes unspoken are perceived and may bring more that is desired.'

  'You understand
the meaning and import of my words and my desires?'

  'Yes; without doubt. I shall leave and act, and none shall know the truth.'

  'Gratitude again, Stave.'

  She hesitated. She wanted just to bid him fair well and good fortune, but it was so hard to let him go without asking.

  'What do you see?' Her words barely whispered.

  Stave looked up at the great beast that towered over him, her long neck bent, her huge head close to his own.

  Slowly he reached up and put his fingers against her hard flesh.

  'Fear, Heldon. I see fear. Uncertainty as to wisdom of actions and choice of tools. Distaste at my presence. Worry that I might see true intentions. Wish for a quiet end to your life. Desire to grow and live; to provide guidance and to rule. Duty; Duty; Duty.'

  He smiled again, as if his words meant nothing to him. 'But above all things, I see fear.'

  Heldon wanted to bite his head off and be done with him. It would be so easy; he was so close. But who else could she send in his place? She had others whom she could choose, but the task was too important to rely on a Dorsan or a Sullibubble.

  'Fare well good Stave, and may fortune carry you forward, and may your choices be wise and bear fruit to the benefit of all.'

  In response Stave dismissed her privacy field and glided across the width of the massive chamber, his small hominid figure barely noticed by the mighty denizens that occupied There.

  Feeling a little more relaxed at his absence, Heldon turned her mind to other things.

  **********

  With the light green glow from the walls, Mandy could see them clearly. There were three of them and they walked slowly, moving as a team with their weapons held out before them.

  They stopped at the intersection. There were three ways they could go. To the left would carry them deeper and leave them lost in the unknowable tangle of tunnels. Straight ahead and they would reach the great cavern, after a journey that might take them five days to complete. If they decided to take the right option, they would walk right past her.