All The Frail Futures: A Science Fiction Box Set

by J Battle

  ‘I’ve heard of horses than can count.’

  ‘But they’ve been trained. Who could have trained this animal?’

  ‘Maybe there are people just over that hill.’ said Max, seemingly recovered from his exposure to the first creature.

  ‘Wouldn’t Jack have known about them?’

  ‘He might have known and decided not to tell us. He never tells us anything.’

  The creature seemed suddenly bored with all this conversation and wandered off.

  The first creature remained, at a respectful distance, keeping one eye on them as it nibbled at the lush grass.

  Max noticed that one of the humps in the centre of the village seemed much larger than the others.

  ‘Maybe that’s where the people are. It’s the biggest.’

  Together they walked towards it. At the entrance the ground was raised up in an arch reaching above Max’s head and was wide enough for them to enter side by side if they wished.

  At this stage Sarah certainly did not wish. The smell from the entrance was almost overwhelming. Musky, acidic and something she couldn’t put a name to. Something that had died a long time ago.

  As they hesitated, the second creature rushed up to them and butted them away from the entrance, cawing all the time.

  This time the creature was carrying a small black box.

  When they were a safe distance from the entrance, it stopped with the butting and adjusted something on the box, then it rose again up on its hind legs and began to caw.

  The box spoke.

  ‘Are you humans? Do you come from there? Is he with you?’

  The voice was English and strangely familiar.

  Max looked at Sarah. She nodded.

  ‘Yes we are humans. My name is Max and this is Sarah. I don’t know where there is or who he is.’

  The box cawed to the creature.

  ‘Come with me.’ The creature turned and let them to a smaller hump.

  Something made Max and Sarah hold hands as they followed it down into the ground.

  Chapter 34

  Jack and Debois found them there, surrounded by a gaggle of the alien creatures, cawing and butting and generally far too excited in the cramped space.

  Jack allowed Debois to enter first, hanging back as if he didn’t really want to face what was coming.

  Debois bent to enter beneath the low overhang. He took a couple of steps then stopped at the scene before him.

  It wasn’t the crowded enclosed space that made him baulk, or the noise as the creatures blared their enthusiasm. Or even the sight of Max and Sarah pressed against each other in the centre, trying to avoid the bruising contact.

  No. He stopped because he recognised the creatures before him.

  ‘This can’t be,’ he whispered. ’It’s not possible.’

  He turned back to Jack.

  ‘How can you be involved with them?’

  Jack bent a little and looked over Debois’s shoulder, into the chamber. He made no comment.

  Debois patted his sides, wishing he had some sort of weapon. Something he could use against the notorious Grazers.

  Jack pushed him to one side. ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ he said, quietly. ‘Let’s just get the job done first. OK?’

  Debois barely nodded his agreement.

  Jack stepped into the room and stopped, towering over the humans and aliens.

  At the sight of him, the Grazers stopped in their tracks.

  After a second or two they began to rise up onto their hind legs. Balancing unsteadily, they started to caw. The noise was almost unbearable to the nominal humans present. Jack raised his hands to calm them, but there was no noticeable change in the din.

  After what may have been hours, but was probably only minutes, the skinny Grazer pushed its way to the front. In its hands it held a small box.

  ‘You have returned. At last, you have returned.’ The creature cawed and the box spoke.

  Jack glanced at Debois.’I think it means Number One,’ he whispered.

  ‘I think you are mistaking me for someone who looks very much like me.’ He spoke to the Grazer. ’We are looking for him ourselves.’

  ‘We have waited so long for your return. It was foretold that one day you would return. And now you have.’

  ‘No. I’m sorry. You don’t understand. It wasn’t me.’

  ‘We followed you across the stars, after you departed. We sought you out on a multitude of worlds. Wherever we found hominid races, there we looked for you. But our search was fruitless, so at last we gave up and came back to our home, to wait for you. And now you have returned to us.’

  Jack turned to Debois. ‘We’re not getting anywhere here. Number One is obviously long gone.’

  Debois nodded. ’The sooner we leave the better, as far as I’m concerned.’

  Jack stepped in to the centre of the room, his head only centimetres from the low ceiling. The Grazers backed away from him, giving him respectful room. His way was now clear to Max and Sarah.

  He hadn’t noticed before, but Sarah seemed to be supporting Max. His eyes were closed and his head was lowered, his arm across her shoulders.

  ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Time to leave.’

  ‘I’ll think I’ll need some help,’ said Sarah. ‘Something about their horrible smell affects him.’

  Jack took hold of Max and lifted him on to his shoulder, bending his knees to avoid the ceiling.

  ‘Come on. Let’s go.’

  The skinny Grazer blocked their way.

  ‘Please do not go. We have waited so long for your return.’

  ‘It wasn’t me!’ snapped Jack, leaning over the creature.

  ‘If you go, we will follow you again. Wherever you travel, across the whole of the wide universe, we will follow. This is how we will worship you.’

  Jack looked around him at the eager Grazers crowding closer, at the mud splattered dwelling, the dung covered bare earth floor.

  ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to go where we go.’ he said.

  ‘We still have the technology. We don’t use it; it’s not required here. But we still have it, and people trained in its use. It will take us time to be ready, of course. But we will follow you.’

  Jack shook his head and began to walk towards the entrance.

  The Grazer shuffled out of their way and allowed them to walk outside.

  ‘What are you going to do?’ whispered Debois. ’You can’t let them follow you. Not again. Not after what happened last time.’

  ‘It wasn’t me!’ snapped Jack.

  ‘Still.’

  Chapter 35

  Just then they heard a thin reedy squeal.

  Within a second they were alone, except for the alien speaker. The rest had scurried into their earth holes.

  ‘A male is roused,’ said the Grazer. ‘You will be safe but your human acolytes need to hide.’

  Saying that, the creature spun around and dived back under ground.

  ‘Acolytes! I don’t think so!’ snorted Debois.

  ‘Get back inside. Quickly!’ said Jack, ducking back inside himself, Max still across his shoulder.

  Debois and Sarah hurried to follow him.

  ‘What’s this about a roused male?’ she asked. ‘Mine’s comatose.’

  ‘Let’s get safe first, and then we can talk.’ said Debois, guiding her forward.

  Inside, the room they were in time to see the Grazer disappear through an opening in the lower wall that had been hidden by the crowd earlier.

  It led into a tunnel; narrow and low, rock lined and dark. Both Jack and Debois were forced to crawl, Jack dragging Max by one hand behind him. Sarah was able to walk bent almost double.

  ‘He won’t be able to follow us through here.’ The Grazer called back to them.’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ muttered Debois, to himself.

  ‘Why are we hiding?’ asked Sarah.

  ‘Don’t you remember your ancient Earth history?’ asked Debois.


  ‘Well, some. It wasn’t really my subject. And there was so much of it to learn. Too much.’

  ‘What about your augments? Surely you can just call up the info?’

  ‘We had them taken out. We were going to have a matched set; it’s what people do when they bond.’

  ‘Do they now? Well I wouldn’t be without mine.’

  They were crouched at the end of the tunnel, the conscious humans uncomfortable, the Grazer calmly chewing its cud, Jack unperturbed.

  ‘I don’t think we have time for a complete history lesson,’ he began.

  ‘Why are we in this dark tunnel?’ said Max.

  ‘Oh he’s back. Nice to have you with us again,’ responded Debois.

  Max grunted and struggled his way through to Sarah. With their arms around each other they seemed much more comfortable.

  ‘The Grazers have the standard set of sexes; the gentle female we see before us and the much more aggressive male. It is quite common for a difference in aggression levels between sexes across many different species, and it is not always in favour of the male. ‘

  Debois paused to ensure his audience was still listening. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d lost listeners to slumber.

  ‘In the case of the Grazers however, the difference is so extreme that they are almost different species. The female dedicate their lives to controlling the destructive impulses of their males. In fact it usually takes a team of 39 to each male, in shifts of 13 at a time. And the males must be separated from each other at all times.’

  ‘If I may be allowed to interrupt, sir.’ The Grazer’s voice interrupted him. ‘You have made an important and worrying point.’

  ‘Why is it talking in Jack’s voice,’ asked Max.

  ‘What point is that?’ asked Jack, ignoring Max.

  ‘Our male is aroused now. There is nothing we can do to change that. It should not have been allowed. The next run is not scheduled until three days’ time. It would seem that your presence caused a distraction and his calm-sleep levels were allowed to drop dangerously. When he makes his run to the nearest village, just the sound of his voice will rouse that village’s male. There will be terrible destruction and few are likely to survive. And it may well escalate, with males of other nearby villages being roused before their time.’

  The creature fell silent, waiting for his response.

  ‘Everything seems in order to me,’ said Debois. ‘It’s time we left.’

  ‘We caused the problem,’ said Jack.

  ‘Well, hardly. We can’t be expected to solve every problem we cause, and we’ve certainly no reason to help them. Not after what they did to us.’

  ‘Stay here,’ said Jack, to his human companions. There were no arguments.

  To the Grazer he said, ’I’ll see what I can do. Can I just take a drop of your blood? I may be able to work up something internally that could knock him out, without causing too much damage.’

  The Grazer held out one hand which he pricked with his suddenly pointed little finger.

  ‘How much does he weigh?’

  ‘It’s difficult to be precise; he’s never actually been weighed. But, if you are working in kilos, you should think in terms of around 5000 kilos.’

  ‘That big? And how fast is he likely to be able to move? I’m trying to judge kinetic energy here.’

  ‘He can probably achieve above the equivalent of 60 kilometres per one hour for short periods.’

  ‘Great! I’m not going to get in his way then.’

  He pushed his way past the others, still on his hands and knees.

  Debois huffed to himself for a moment, then followed.

  ‘We’re staying here,’ hissed Sarah. Max had no intention of arguing.

  Back in the room, Jack did a quick survey of the surrounding area; x-ray, sonar, infrared.

  He was hardly surprised to detect a large stationary body just outside the entrance. It was the way his day was going.

  ‘Stay inside,’ he instructed Debois, who was squeezing out of the tunnel behind him.

  He stepped out into the dull sunshine, ignoring the ripped earth at his feet. The male was there, facing away from him.

  He took a second to take in the mass of the beast.

  His back was level with Jack’s shoulders. Jack could see his tail twitching and the heavy testicles hanging between his thick hind legs, his feet great splayed claws. His red brown skin seemed distended, puffed up in preparation for the run, with long irregular cracks running along his back. The skin was so hard and tight that the bulging muscles beneath were hardly visible.

  He turned slightly and Jack could see that the massive body was supported by six equally sturdy legs. The triangular head was held low on his thick neck. It seemed ridiculously small compared with the rest of him, but then his cerebral requirements were limited.

  His only purpose was to run through the dark valley to the next village, to spread his seed. Any intellectual refinements that did not support that target were redundant.

  The male sensed his presence and spun quickly to face him.

  He raised his head and his neck arched upwards, bringing his chest and powerful forelegs up, their sharps claws flexing as they threatened to tear at Jack’s body.

  Jack chose this moment to float away from the ground, several metres above the male’s reach.

  He was sure that, if it had been really necessary, he could have wrestled the male to the ground. Especially if there was someone to impress. But it was much safer for the male not to make it a test of strength and to simply fire the dart with the knockout drug from a distance.

  So he did just that.

  When the dart bounced harmlessly of the rock hard skin, plan B was required.

  He lowered himself to the ground in front of the beast, bracing his legs against the soft ground.

  Without any further warning, the male charged at him. There wasn’t sufficient time for him to do anything especially clever to stop him, he just took a step to the side and tripped him with a trailing leg.

  He went down like a 5 ton beast doing 30 kilometres per hour. With a crash and a raw and a shaking of the ground.

  Jack leapt to his side and flipped him over on to his back. Without a second’s pause he rammed the dart in to the tough skin of the male’s stomach. The needle bent at first, but then it was through.

  Jack took a couple of steps back and waited for the result.

  Very soon the male was sleeping happily and noisily.

  His entourage of 13 females appeared from nowhere.

  With practiced skill they dragged him back to the large hump at the centre of the village, and took him inside.

  ‘Thank you very much for not hurting him, Master.’ Jack turned at the sound of his own voice. The little Grazer was standing beside him.

  ‘That’s OK. I was pleased to help.’

  ‘Will you be staying long? We need time to prepare to follow you, if you intend to leave.’

  ‘I keep telling you, I’m not him. I was with him, for a very short time. But I am not him. So there is no need for you to follow me.’

  ‘The preparations are well under way.’

  ‘Is that box not working properly? Can you not understand what I am saying?’

  ‘Every word is fully understood. And each word is being recorded for future study and meditation. Your fullest and deepest meanings will be discovered and acted upon.’

  ‘Will somebody please tell her, I’m not the one she wants?’

  Debois just shrugged. ‘You know you can’t leave it like this, Jack. You can’t let them follow you. Not the way they must have followed Number One.’

  ‘What do you expect me to do?’

  ‘I’m sure it is well within the destructive capabilities of your ship.’

  ‘You can’t destroy this world! How can you even think of it?’

  Sarah had moved very close to Debois, her fists clenched and her face reddening.

  ‘You don’t understand, dear.’
<
br />   She stepped even closer. ’Don’t dear me.’

  Debois took a step back and brushed his hands down the front of his suit.

  ‘There is no need to be quite so aggressive. They may seem to be sweet creatures, with their gentle ways and little villages. But last time they left this place, to follow Number One, they weren’t quite so sweet, and they certainly weren’t at all gentle. They conquered Earth, for goodness sake!’

  Chapter 36

  When he’d waved goodbye to Number Five: Mk II’s ship, Number Five turned to his own ship. It was a much more basic design; there was no TPI drive, no real offensive capabilities and any journey in it would be tortuously slow. But that was fine; all it needed to do was travel a few million kilometres, and endure the incredible heat of its close approach to the Sun.

  Inside, shielded from the Sun’s ferocity, would be Number Five and his Distort Bomb.

  Just a little something to help give Number Five: Mk II the upper hand when he came face to face with Jack.

  **********

  Back on the ship, the four of them gathered together to discuss the situation; Number Seven watched silently against the back bulkhead.

  They hadn’t continued their chat with the Grazer. They had simply flown back to the ship, Jack carrying Sarah and Debois struggling a little with Max.

  ‘OK,’ started Jack. ‘Debois thinks we’re a democracy so, everyone who wants to say something will be heard. But remember please that in the end it will be my decision. I hope that’s clear.’

  ‘Why can’t we just a take a few with us? That might be enough. What harm could that cause?’ asked Sarah.

  ‘If you are going to be that simplistic, we aren’t going to get very far.’ That was Debois.

  ‘Simplistic am I? I’m not the one who wants to simply blow them all up!’

  ‘Wordplay! Oh dear, dear. What we need here, dear, is a basic knowledge of history, is that too much to expect, dear?’

  Sarah took a deep breath. She shook her head at Max, for his lack of support.

  ‘OK. I don’t know much about that period of history. You’re right. So, why don’t you educate me?’