by J Battle
His last day on Enshulden; his birthplace and home, and the scene of his greatest shame. A part of him still wished that he could return one last time; not in an attempt to justify himself, for that was a futile thought. But perhaps, in another universe, he could have flown once more across the Valley of Winds, or tasted the sweet nectar of his beloved mate, or allow his one son to slay him, as was only right and just.
Heshna-del had challenged him to do his duty, but he'd turned away from his son, putting life before dignity, freedom before honor. It was a son's right to kill his father and take his place; that was at the very center of the covenant of parenthood, and Jashna had failed, and banished himself from his home.
When he entered the service of Heldon, he had done so, not due to the smooth and deceptive words of the great beast, but because he felt that he deserved nothing better.
Heshna-del would serve his family and world well, much better that he would ever have done.
With his son's face before him, Jashna knew exactly what he should do. This time he would fail neither his son nor himself. Honor would be his once again.
He unwrapped his wings and straightened his body. He spread his wings to their full extent and felt his simmerglow begin to rise. The light began to flash across the kilometer wide expanse of his wings; burning from yellow to orange to red.
The simmerglow sought release, but he held it in, letting its strength build as it fought against the unexpected prison, though the pain that coursed through his body threatened to rob him of consciousness. But he would not allow that, for he was once again Jashna-del Tay; The Winged Sun God, and his will would not be broken.
When the time came, when the moment was right, he clamped his mind down on the vision of his son, proud and handsome and honorable, and, for the last time, released his simmerglow.
For just a few brief seconds the stygian darkness was washed away and the emptiness between the Galaxies was lit by the light of a sudden star.
Chapter 38
‘What will you do?’
Sublan looked up at him and clicked his claws together.
‘Only one action befits out circumstances, my combination friend. I shall walk before my people and call them to me, in forgiveness and generosity.’
‘And if they just open fire on you?’
‘They honor their leader. Such a response would be anathema to them. Yet, if they do discharge their weapons, their bullets will not touch me, for I will lead them to another world, of freedom and respect; that is my future; that is their future.’
Dan couldn’t help feeling that the sun had got to the little fellow’s head.
‘What did you mean, ’combination friend?’
‘My friend, you are surely no longer merely human. Those glowing bands have bonded with your own flesh and made you other than you were.’
Dan glanced down at his naked chest; somehow he barely noticed them now.
‘Before you go out there, let me do something first,’ he said, bringing his attention back to the situation at hand, ‘let me see if I can cut the chances of you being shot just a little.’
‘Friend, there really is no need to put yourself in any danger for this Sherdling. There is no danger to me; they will not fire.’
‘Let’s just say I’ll feel better if I help you this way.’
‘Here, ‘said Iron, handing over his mini matter blaster, ‘you’ll need this.’
‘How does it work?’ asked Dan as he weighed the stubby device in his hands.
‘It doesn’t,’ grunted Andreas, shaking his head at his son, ‘it is severely lacking in the ammunition department.’
Dan handed the exotic weapon back. ‘No thanks son, I don’t want to hurt anyone.’
‘Be careful not to expose yourself to the ship. She shouldn’t take a shot at you, but she is a little trigger happy.’
Andreas settled himself deeper into the lee of the large rock the small mixed band was sheltering behind. On the other side was a flat open space that sloped up to the pile of rocks hiding Jullie, and sloped downwards to the plot of land currently occupied by Angel’s Kiss.
‘Don’t worry about me; just don’t make a move ‘till you hear from me.’
‘May I offer my assistance?’
Dan spun and, without thinking, stepped between Sublan and the newcomer. His right hand balled into a tight fist; his left with fingers splayed into a claw.
‘Help and friendship, are all I offer.’ Stave stepped closer, his slender arms hanging loose at his side, until he was within easy reach of Dan.
‘Who are you?’ Dan stared into Stave's purple eyes, and felt suddenly nervous, as if all of his most guilty secrets had been exposed.
‘No threat to you, or your friends. You may call me Stave. Will you share your name with me also?’
‘I’m Dan and…’ Stave took his wrists in his hands and squeezed gently. Dan felt the heat race up his arms. For a second, Dan felt a rush of dizziness; then he appeared to go cross-eyed as he could now see two Staves. No; the second creature was different; still a blue hominid, but taller, with a straighter nose and higher cheek bones.
‘Have you seen her?’ whispered a quiet voice.
Dan felt an urge to say ‘yes’, to be somehow connected to the new apparition, but he merely shook his head.
Stave released his wrists.
‘We shall be friends, Dan; heroes and friends. Can you see that, Dan?’
There was something disturbing about his voice, his eyes, and his touch. Dan coughed, ‘This is Sublan and these are Andreas and Iron.’
He introduced each in turn and Stave took each of the humans by the wrist and spoke soft words to him.
Then he turned to Dan.
‘Why do you have sub-dubs in your company? There are no Hru-argh here yet.’
‘Most blue of strangers, we are not known by that objectionable and pejorative name here, or anywhere else if justice reigns in this universe. You must know our correct and deserved nomenclature is Sherdling, and we would thank you to make use of that name in any address you might make to us.’
‘Sherdling to you, sub-dub to me; it makes little difference.‘
He turned his back to the Sherdling and addressed Dan.
‘So Dan, will you accept my help? Shall we disarm this group of upstart sub-dubs and save the day?’
‘Only if you treat my friends with more respect.’
Stave turned and bowed to Sublan. ’Is that sufficient respect, Dan, or would you like me to pick the dead meat from its claws?’
‘If you can help without killing; OK.’
‘Lead on, new friend, and trust that I will be right behind you. And no sub-dubs will come to unnecessary harm at the touch of my hands.’
‘Unnecessary harm?’
‘All commitments must contain caveats, don’t you agree?’
Dan made no comment. He nodded to Sublan and glanced at Andreas, stretched out in the shadow of the rock and wheezing a little. Then he set off, away from the boulder towards a low hill that he thought would provide cover as he skirted around behind Jullie’s position.
Stave made no sound as he followed close behind. Once or twice Dan had to glance over his shoulder just to make sure he was still there.
They found six Sherdling hiding in the rocks. Three were sitting beside their weapons, looking as if they really wanted to be somewhere else; anywhere else. Two more had their guns propped against the rock, pointing in the general direction of the ship, but they were watching the last of the six, a large arrogant looking creature, as he strode back and forward, seemingly giving them the benefits of his considerations.
‘I’ll disarm the three who are not holding their weapons; you take the two who are watching the big guy. Just the guns; nothing else. We don’t want to hurt them.’
‘Just as you say, Dan. Will you be fast enough to handle three of them?’
‘Don’t worry about me.’
Dan leapt down the hill and was able to scoop all thre
e weapons into his arms before the Sherdling could do more than grunt in surprise. He would have turned then, to face the large Sherdling, but a groan to his right diverted his attention.
He turned to find Stave standing casually over the broken bodies of the two Sherdling.
'What...'
'They made an attempt upon my person. No other choice was available to me.'
Somehow one of the guns Dan was holding ended up pointing at the blue creature.
'Who are you, Stave? What are you really doing here?'
'What I am doing at this present moment is watching their leader make his escape.' He took a quick fluid step closer to Dan. 'We can have this discussion later, if it is still required. We should be stopping the sub-dub before he goes too far.'
Dan shook his head. 'Not just yet, mate. Not until I know what I need to know. Step over to the rest of the Sherdling, so I can keep an eye on all of you.'
Stave studied his face for a moment. It was unlikely, he felt, that the human would shoot him if he made an attempt to disarm him, but it was an unnecessary risk. He moved closer to the three little lizard-like creatures who'd turned their backs towards the newcomers as if what they couldn't see couldn't hurt them.
'I am here,' he began, speaking softly so that Dan had to lean closer to hear him, 'at the behest of the Galactic Confederation and my role is to act as a protector and adviser, to intervene where required between the forces of the Hru-argh and this human settlement, initially, and subsequently your home system. As bona fides of my integrity I will facilitate your escape before the arrival of the Hru-argh fleet. This arrival I should advise you is imminent.'
Dan was at something of a loss. He knew about the Confederation of course; Sublan had told him about the organization in great detail, using lots of words. If he believed the blue newcomer, he shouldn't be pointing his gun at him; it was hardly an appropriate way to deal with a representative of the Galactic Confederation who seemed to be on the same side as Dan and his comrades. But he was such a creepy guy; Dan felt much more comfortable with the barrel of a gun between them.
In the end, he lowered his gun. 'How long have we got, before they come?'
'I would expect them to arrive in this system in the next few days. They will approach this planet slowly then, to allow sufficient time for fear to build up and incapacitate their enemy; it's the way they like to do this sort of thing. So, you may have 10 days before the arrival of certain death.'
'10 days? What can we do in 10 days?'
'You have a ship, now. What else would you need to facilitate your escape?'
'Angel's Kiss has three ZTC's. With Andreas, Iron, Mandy and her Dad, and me, that makes five. We could just about do it if we give one to Andreas and the rest share.'
'ZTC's?'
'Zero Time Chambers.'
'I see. They will not be necessary on this journey.'
'We can't travel 12 light years without them. We couldn't carry enough air or food, and there certainly wouldn't be enough room for five.'
'Your home system is 12 light years from here? You have no need to worry about air, or food, or space. I carry with me the technology to convert your ship's engines to FTL capability. You will be home within minutes of your departure.'
Chapter 39
The stars filled the heavens, banishing darkness and calling her to them. This close to the center of The Milky Way there were barely a handful of light-years between each star and there wasn’t a single part of the sky that did not glow with the light from the multitude of stars.
There was a beauty, of sorts, to all this extravagant magnificence, but it was lost on Heldon as she shifted beneath the light.
She’d left There days earlier, not wanting her colleagues to see the changes in her and guess at the cause. Some of them were even as old as she and might believe that they had some insight into her mind. In one or two cases, that might actually be true.
Now here she was, alone, shifting impossibly, her body changing, her mind in turmoil.
When she’d first received the emergency signal from Clessy, she had known that it was far too early; that they could not have reached their destination in such a short time, but what could she do? Ignore the message and count the mission a failure; casting a dark shadow over the future of the many races that were fundamentally her responsibility, though so few of them would know her name? Or take a more dangerous action?
She had sent the elite force after them, prepared to strike a decisive blow against an unknown enemy and earn herself a position to bargain for the cessation of hostilities and the safety of her people. But it was all such a waste; the invisible enemy had destroyed Jashna’s craft, and the attack force that followed.
The signals she’d received from Clessy and the captain of the force had indicated the type of weapon used, and she already had teams of scientists working on a replication of that technology and a defense against its use.
They were good people and, given enough time, they would achieve their twin goals, but how much time would they have?
She twisted slightly inside her protective field and felt a sudden shift deep inside her body. The stress; the tension; the fear; they were all working on her. There was little she could do to stop it now; the time for denial was past. Slowly the volume of her body, grown so much over these past few years was being reduced. She wasn’t losing mass; she was just becoming denser. Soon she would appear less than a third of her former size and be so dense that her body would be virtually indestructible. She would also revert to being a he.
Then he would have a task to perform and the future of the entire Milky Way depended on the success of that mission.
The transformation was barely complete when he received the message from his agents, scattered across the width of the Galaxy, watching and waiting.
He brought up the original display of the destroyed stars that he had shown to Jashna, seemingly so long ago.
The string was made up of 48 stars. First, an unbroken line of 15 red stars, and then a single white star, followed by a further 18 red. Then there were two white stars together, and the line finished with 12 red stars.
He compared it with a new, updated version. Here there were 48 brilliantly red stars in an unbroken line.
With an angry gesture he deleted both displays.
It seemed that it might already be too late.
**********
If there was one characteristic that Hy-Dehone was known for, it was his dislike of everything.
In an interview that was never broadcast, a close associate of his explained further.
'He doesn't like the military, though as head of his family he accepted the role of Lord Commander of the Fleet; it is, after all, the family business. He doesn't like commanding the largest ship in the fleet as that just makes him a bigger target. He doesn't like having the seven sub-dubs his position demands; having a crowd of them around him wherever he goes raises his stress levels, and he especially hates that they have to use the ceremonial spoons to clean up after him instead of the usual buckets. He doesn't like having to have a ceremonial guard of the SDS; he finds their diapers unsightly, disrespectful and unsanitary. He hates the way they stand to attention as if they are crushing nuts between their buttocks and double-time all over the place as if they are too important to walk at a normal pace and take in the scenery.'
'What does he like?' asked the interviewer, hoping for some balance.
The close associate was at a loss to answer that question.
Hy-Dehone sat in his over-elaborate and frankly quite distasteful command throne, and chewed on the thigh bone of a Squealer Bird, one of the few benefits of his position. The squat flightless birds were virtually extinct and Hy-Dehone was doing his best to help them on their way.
The last shift was over and they were now four days away from their destination. It was time to get ready for the Fear and Awe demonstration, where they would crawl across the intervening distance in a display of cruel, calm menace.
The ships would spread across a wide arc of space, presenting themselves as the honored and feared Crest of Hil-Yard.
Hru-argh are not naturally crested creatures but once or twice in every ten generations or so, a crested Hru-argh would be born and feted as a harbinger of a glorious and bellicose future. He would lead armies and navies to victory; lead his people to their rightful place at the head of the Galactic Confederation and the glory years would begin.
So the correct and required formation for an attacking Hru-agh fleet was the Crest.
It was all a pile of nonsense as far as Hy-Dehone was concerned, and the formation made it very hard for their enemy to miss them, but tradition was tradition.
'Sir! The troops are ready for your perusal. Sir!'
Hy-Dehone closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that, when he reopened them, the SDS officer would have strangled himself with his own diaper. And why did he have to shout so much?
When he stepped down from the throne, his tail caught three of his sub-dubs and sent them tumbling. He was quite pleased with the resulting confusion. He hoped to knock over the full set of seven before the mission was over, but he was satisfied with three.
The corridor was lined with them; tall, erect and quivering with the intensity of their desire to be the best, and to follow any and every order to the letter.
They made Hy-Dehone’s stomach squirm. He had a sudden urge to order the elite soldiers on his right to attack those facing them, just to see if they would obey. But there was no need to test their resolve; they would tear the face from their brothers in arms if that was the order they received. And there would be no regret later as, for the SDS soldier, obedience was everything.
He made his dutiful march through their ranks, nodding in appreciation at their pristine diapers and resisting the temptation to squeeze a buttock or two just to see how rigid they were.
His duty fulfilled, he returned to his command throne and made a show of examining the display screens. Yes, the Crest was in place and very neat and tidy it was, for all the use it would be if they were attacked.