by J Battle
Chapter 30
Mandy looked into her father's eyes, hoping for that reassuring look he always had for her, regardless of the situation. But this time it wasn't there; he just stared ahead, his jaw tight and vertical creases marking his forehead.
Less than 10 meters from them to the south were three of the aliens, moving slowly along the low tunnel towards them. Only the curve of the corridor kept them from view. To the north, another pair was running towards them, weapons poised and ready to fire.
There was no escape for them; Mandy, Bill and Sublan. Soon bullets from either side would rip their lives from them, and there was no-one who could save them. As far as they knew, Mandy and Bill were the last surviving humans on the planet; but for how long would that be the case?
Sublan stepped away from the wall, exposing himself to both groups.
'Stop, fellow Sherdlings. Violence and death are not required, or necessary. They have no existence in and of themselves.'
His head was held erect, with his short arms pointing straight at right angles from his body in the traditional imperative gesture.
The pair of Sherdlings stopped immediately and lowered their weapons. 'Sublan; no longer dead?' Gasped the nearest. The group of three also stopped, but kept their guns raised.
'What reason drives this quest for blood? Why is the death of these creatures sought with such haste?'
One of the pair replied. 'We follow our orders, dearest leader; orders from our...dearest leader.'
'Who claims that name? Is it perhaps Jullie that presumes to lead the Sherdling cause in my absence?'
'Yes, dearest leader, he is now our dearest leader, or he was...' He looked at his companion who had no input to give. 'I am lacking sureness in who truly leads the Sherdling now.'
'Be sure, Sherdling, for I am here, and I, who brought you to this new world, will lead you to the future. Can you doubt that truth? It is absolute and real.'
The pair stepped forward. 'Joy washes over us at your resurrection, dearest Sublan, true leader of the Sherdling.'
Mandy had no idea what the little aliens were saying; just that they seemed to be using an awful lot of words.
Things looked like they were going to improve for the small group, until the nearest of the trio took a step closer to Sublan, his weapon pointed directly at him. This was Dellinay, the Sherdling who'd taken his orders directly from Jullie, and he knew his duty.
It was true that he knew his duty; what he didn't know was how to use a rifle. He'd never fired a gun before and his only knowledge of their use was taken from watching Hru-argh at play. So he roared and charged forward and jerked at the trigger. Then he stopped suddenly and looked down at the gun. Nothing had happened when he pulled the trigger. He tried again, slowly and carefully. Still nothing. The least he'd expected was a lot of noise; there was always a lot of noise.
But the gun remained peculiarly silent, and nothing was coming out of its front end.
He turned to one of his companions. 'Give me your gun; mine is faulty.' He snapped.
The Sherdling looked at his own weapon, then at Dellinay. 'But, wisdom is hidden from your actions, Dellinay. This is our leader, reborn and returned to us.'
'Trickery is all you see. Jullie himself warned me of this and we must not be deceived. Give me your weapon and you will see the truth.'
'I see no trickery, only our leader.'
'It is the nature of trickery to remain unseen, until it is too late to avoid its intent. Do as I say.'
The third Sherdling took that moment to butt in. 'Dellinay, your weapon is not faulty. It has a safety feature to prevent unintended discharge. You merely need to change the setting on that switch and your weapon will perform as expected.' He indicated the switch that Dellinay should change with one short limb.
'Gratitude is due to you, Lellyon. I will appraise our leader Jullie of your contribution when we have completed our tasks here.'
He turned back to Sublan, only to find him racing away along the tunnel with the two humans and the other two Sherdling right behind him.
Dellinay fired three quick burst after them, making a total mess of a large section of the roof of the tunnel. Then he set off after them, followed by his companions; one eager and ready for blood, the other one a little less committed to the enterprise.
Over a short distance. Sherdling are swift creatures, but they tire quickly, so it was a close run thing whether the chasing trio would catch their prey before they needed to stop, rest in a comfy armchair, and eat a three course meal.
**********
After a full day in the boat, Dan was keen to get back on dry land, stretch his leg, and check out the nearby tunnels.
As soon as he heard the sound of gunfire, he dropped back into the boat from the side of the watercourse where he'd been sitting waiting for Ardeenallywys to join him in his search.
His precipitous action knocked the alien into the water with hardly a splash, and he had to take a moment to fish her back out.
'FEAR WASHES OVER YOUR MIND DANROBINSON. EXPLANATION IS DESIRED.'
Dan crouched in the boat beside her and held one hand up as he concentrated on listening. It was definitely gunfire that he'd heard, but in these tunnels and caverns it was hard to judge distance, as sound echoed back and forward.
'Deadly weapons are being used, but I don't think they are firing at us. It seems too far away.'
'EXPLAIN THE TERM...NO. I SEE. WE CANNOT HAVE THIS HERE. IT IS AN ABOMINATION. YOU MUST STOP THEIR USE AND THEY MUST BE DESTROYED. YOU CAN DO THIS?'
Dan really wanted to run for it; to leave the area at once and see how well he could do, paddling against the current, but, after all, this was what he'd come for. If they were shooting at something, it was probably an alien, or lots of aliens. Unless the aliens were firing at the humans that had survived the original attack. But, would aliens be firing bullets and shells? Wouldn't they be firing ray guns, or lasers, or some other sort of energy weapons? Maybe they were, but he just wasn't hearing the hiss or zap of their high tech guns, just the sound of the desperate humans making their last stand.
He leapt from the boat and began to run, not waiting for Ardeenallwys, or for common sense to kick in. With his head ducked to avoid the low ceiling, he charged along the nearest corridor, hopefully towards the source of the three bursts of gunfire he'd heard just a moment earlier.
With the combined benefit of excellent hearing and blind luck, he arrived just in time to see three small green, reptilian creatures bearing down on a man and a young girl. He would have shouted a warning, but the aliens were armed and the humans seemed to be trapped at the end of a blocked off tunnel. So he surged forward, fast and silent, and snatched the three guns with surprising ease from the alien’s hands before they had a chance to react.
With two rifles tucked under one elbow, he pointed the other single-handed at the ugly little creatures.
'You OK?' he called out to the man and child, without taking his eyes off the aliens.
The man stepped forward, past the aliens and took one of the weapons from him.
'We are now, mate. Thanks to you.'
With two weapons trained on the aliens, Dan looked up and saw movement behind the girl.
'There's more!' he yelled and lifted his gun up to fire over the other man's shoulder.
The man pushed his gun away. 'They're friendly,' he said, 'they're on our side.'
Without their guns, the first three Sherdling squatted and bowed their heads, with their short forelimbs raised on either side of those heads.
'Strange human, gratitude is due to you for your arrival and the end to violence.' One of the friendly aliens had moved closer.
'You speak English?' It was a stupid question, but these were extraordinary circumstances.
'Evidently I do. Are my words not clear? Is my syntax awry?'
Dan supposed that he'd either become best friends with the little fellow, or he'd annoy the hell out of him.
'I'm sorry; I was jus
t surprised, that's all. Your English is probably better than mine. It is certainly better than my...whatever your language is called.'
'Sherdling are rightly renowned for their language skills, across the whole of the Confederation. Even the Hru-argh are happy to use us as interpreters, amongst our other responsibilities. But we will talk of that no more; it is the past and no longer has relevance.'
There was a light rustling sound and Ardeenallywys appeared at Dan's side.
'WEAPONS DANROBINSON. REMOVE AND DESTROY WEAPONS AT ONCE.'
Sublan sniffed at the newcomer. 'Welcome to you, remarkable native of this planet, do you understand the human language? To converse is to bond is to unite is to converse, as we say.'
'I HAVE A SENSE OF HIS/HER MEANING BUIT IT LACKS CLARITY. PLEASE ACT AS INTERFACE DANROBINSON.'
'What do you want me to say?' Dan whispered, uncomfortable under the gaze of a man, a girl and six aliens.
'GIVE NO WORDS OF WELCOME UNTIL UNDERSTANDING OF THEIR ARRIVAL HAS BEEN ACHIEVED. JUDGEMENT IS SUSPENDED TEMPORARILY, BUT WEAPONS MUST BE DESTROYED. THIS SHOULD BE YOUR PARAMOUNT CONSIDERATION.'
'She wants me to welcome you to her world.' Dan coughed, trying to ignore the glowing creature beside him. 'But first, well, these guns make her nervous. They have to be destroyed.'
Sublan called to the two Sherdling still armed to pass their weapons to Dan.
'We have no facility for the destruction of the guns, but it appears you possess the trust of this creature, so you shall also possess the weapons. In your care, they will be safe. If conditions arrive where use of weapons would be considered appropriate, then they will remain accessible. Does this satisfy her requirements?'
Dan didn't think it would, but he gave a brief resume of Sublan's words.
'THE GUNS WILL STILL EXIST. THE POTENTIAL FOR DEATH IS STILL GROTESQUE. CAST THEM INTO THE WATER AND LEAVE THEM BEHIND YOU AS YOU LEAVE OUR WORLD.'
Dan turned to look at her; stunned. 'Does that mean me as well?'
'THOUGH FRIENDSHIP IS NURTURED, DANGER REMAINS. SO ALL OF YOU ARE INCLUDED IN THIS DEMAND.'
'But...I wanted to stay with you.'
'THE EXPERIENCE OF HAVING YOU WITH US; OF SHARING OURSELVES WITH YOU, IS REMEMBERED.IT WILL ALWAYS BE HELD CLOSE IN OUR THOUGHTS. BUT THAT TIME IS OVER. YOU SHOULD LEAVE WITH YOUR FELLOW HUMANS AND THESE OTHERS. WE WISH TO BE AS WE WERE.'
'What can I...' He wanted to ask what could he due to change her mind, but he could sense the absolute certainty of her thoughts; there was nothing for him to argue against, no weakness he could use to influence her decision.
‘What about Helen?’
‘DO NOT HAVE CONCERN. WHEN SHE AWAKENS SHE WILL BE SENT TO YOU.’
Dan made no response. The urge to be alone tightened his jaw as he took the rest of the weapons and carried them awkwardly along the tunnel to the water course. Without pausing he tossed them into the water, narrowly missing the alien boat that he'd assumed would be awaiting his return.
Something else about which he'd been proved wrong.
Chapter 31
'You must!'
'But...I can't. They will kill me! They have killed everyone else who approached the ship. Look!'
Jullie leaned closer.
'For the sake of the Sherdling race, you must do this. They were foolish to approach in the full light of day. It is dusk now, and soon it will be dark and you will not be discovered. There is a climbing device along the side of the craft; you will be able to climb up to the entrance and force your way inside. When you have secured the ship, your name will be honored in the memory of all Sherdling.'
Lekda looked away from his leader. He didn't want to be honored, or to be a memory; he wanted to be a living, breathing Sherdling, following well behind his leader, away from even the hint of danger.
'You will do this, or...' There was no need for further words as one of Jullie's armed cronies stepped closer.
'If it must be done, and only I can do this, then...'
'Fare well, Sherdling. We trust in you as you secure this jewel for the future of all Sherdling.
'I'll go when it's dark.'
'It's quite dark now.'
'Darker.'
Lekda might have been a little more sanguine about his approaching trial if he'd known the AI that was at the heart of Angel's Kiss had been a little profligate in its use of its weapons and, without ammunition, its defensive cannons were useful for little more than decoration.
**********
The shiny blue orb suddenly materialized in the skies of TCE, contravening a multitude of Confederation rules about planet proximity shifting, but Stave was confident in his AI’s mathematical capabilities and didn’t want to waste time in a slo-mo approach to this or any other planet.
Mere seconds after landing close to a scattering of large rocks on the plain above the human settlement, Stave was walking across the hard dusty surface. Behind him his stealthed ship was invisible amongst the jumble of rocks.
Something less than 1.5 meters in height, with long slender limbs, he turned his bald round head to take in his surroundings.
He was aware of the heat, but it did not concern him. He could feel the force of the gravity attempt to hold him close to its breast, but his body could cope with that, and much more.
His stride was long and loose as he strode down the gentle slope to the devastated human village, his arms swinging as he went. He ran though the new language he’d learnt, seeking out its nuances and capabilities.
His first opinion was that the human language was wide and shallow, like a floodplain after the rain. There was an abundance of words, but they were so limited in their range and depth. Multiple words with similar meanings, but no words to express, to analyze, to describe so much of the wonder of any environment that the senses gave an intelligent observer the chance to share. No word, for instance, that would be the equivalent of froom; the play of dawn light on falling water. No word for the interplay between quarks or for the cross transference between the seventh and eight dimensions.
It would be interesting to see what a human could do with such a limited language. It would be wise not to prejudge; perhaps this was a deliberately bastardized language, and they retained a higher form for situations where more complex thought processes were required.
He came upon a level open space and dropped quickly to one knee. Then he leapt to head height and twisted his body in a full circle as he fell. He rolled as he hit the ground and rose to a crouch. Without a pause he swung his left leg out in a wide sweep whilst spinning on the sole of his right foot.
A casual observer might have been unsure if he was witnessing a martial arts demonstration, or perhaps a dance warm-up. In truth it was something of both.
Satisfied with the way his body performed under the extreme conditions of TCE, he continued towards the broken buildings that appeared to be all that was left of man’s hopeful incursion on this distant planet.
If things went as he hoped, as he intended, then this would be his final task for Heldon, the last time he would be subjected to the will of another. He didn’t know why Heldon was so concerned with the conflict between The Hru-argh and the Humans. On the face of it there was nothing special about the situation; it was, after all, what the Hru-argh did. No-one had taken offence when they conquered the Septem Group, despite rumors of excessive atrocities, or when they virtually destroyed the home world of the Ignetine, who were actually quite highly regarded across the Confederation.
Something was different here; that much was obvious, but Stave didn’t really care about the reasons. He’d get this job done and, maybe then, he’d be that much closer to freeing his beloved.
He wouldn’t wait for Heldon to relent and set Staff free willingly; he’d rip her from the grasp of the giant dragon-like creature.
For a while perhaps, they would travel together, spending time to relearn one and other, after such a long absence from each other’s life. Then, when he was absolutely sure that she was safe, he
would return to exact his terrible revenge.
**********
'So, what do we do now?'
'You could start by putting some pants on.'
'Sorry?'
'My daughter's only 10 and you're walking around virtually naked.'
Dan looked down at his body. The glowing bands covered much of his flesh, but there was still plenty on show. He'd spent so much time in the company of the aliens that he'd let his sense of social propriety sink below his normal high standards.
'Sorry mate, but my pants are kilometers back, down the canal.'
'Here, you can borrow a pair of mine, I suppose.' Brian opened his back pack and pulled out a creased pair of jeans. 'They're my last pair.' He said grumpily.
Dan felt uncomfortable with the heavy material clinging to his legs and they only reached halfway down his calves.
'Now that sartorial considerations have been addressed to the satisfaction of all parties, though I have to say that the young female appears flushed and, in my humble opinion, discomfited by the previous discussion, though I am of course unfamiliar with the emotional displays of Humans, perhaps it is time to answer the question asked by Dan.'
Mandy felt the sound of Sublan's voice wash over her like the warm northern breeze that blew each morning up above.
'You should be my…you call…yourselves my…prison; prisoners.' Dellinay's grasp of English needed a little more work. Though he could understand most of the words spoken by his erstwhile leader, he was more comfortable speaking Galactic Standard. His grasp of the situation was perhaps even worse.
'Past and present, present and future, Dellinay; all connected, but each is different. The potential future where we become your prisoners has failed to be realized. In the actual present, you are our prisoners; in the future I see, you may be seen as friends. Agreement overflows with benefits to us all.'