Titan Fleet: The Robur

by Jason J Black

Megan is baffled at the answer and gently massages her forehead with her fingers. “I thought you said all your people were killed, and what is this freeing ceremony thing?”

  Drax stands up, helping Steg also to her feet and Steg continues to explain. “I am with… how do you say… with children? The ceremony of freeing will give them birth. That is why we are here, and we can then repopulate our people and live to fight another day, one day bringing revenge on the Oakthians.”

  Megan understands now, well a little anyway. “But having children would take you centuries, unless you have twins each time of course, and remind me who the Oakthians are again.” Megan waits with interest looking over once again at Talia, who is looking at the final perimeter mine.

  “We are not like you, Megan, we can have a million children at once. The Oakthians are what you humans have been calling the Blues. Now, I must go and cleanse my body and rest. We have a long journey ahead of us. I do not wish to be rude.”

  Megan moves to one side as the Gulmeds walk past her. “When do you plan on leaving for the spire?” Megan raises her voice looking at the Gulmeds backs.

  “We plan on leaving tomorrow and hope you all will join us.” replies Drax, looking back at Megan with his guiding hand on Steg’s lower back, gently supporting her at the same time. Steg turns around briefly to throw Megan a gold coloured rod, about a foot long. Megan catches it with surprise.

  “I noticed you did not have a weapon,” says Steg, “I will not be using this. I want you to have it, a gift from my people to yours for all your help.”

  Megan is not used to receiving gifts, especially alien ones. “What does it do?” she asks looking down at the gold shining in the sun, flashing in her eyes.

  “You will see,” replies Steg with a smile as she and Drax go out of sight into the ship. Megan feels the cool rod with her fingers and then finding a small sliding switch, which she activates and a glowing pulse of power extends out of each end of the rod, creating a spear type weapon. Megan realises she has seen it before, it was the weapon that was used on Captain Miles. Feeling excited, Megan begins to twirl and spin and twirl some more. At school she had been great with baton spinning and often entered competitions, coming first place several times, and this made her remember some good times. Megan was over-joyed with the weapon. At least now she could protect herself and the others, better than the monkey wrench, which now lay on the floor, useless.

  Talia, having now finished her security checks, is watching Megan with her new found toy. She was amazed at just how quickly Megan could spin it around her body and head, and Talia had never seen this sort of show before, so she stood just feet away watching in awe. When Megan stopped, Talia began to clap in appreciation of Megan’s skill. Megan turned and bowed at Talia as if she were stood before an audience of a hundreds and blew kisses to make believe people.

  “So you do have a fun side to you after all, Captain,” sniggered Talia as she approached Megan. “What’re we doing today then? The perimeter is ok, no reports of anything close, and I have data back on what the drones have found, which you will find interesting.”

  Catching her breath, Megan retracts the spear back into the ornate golden tube and feels at ease that she can be herself in front of Talia. “Oh, I’m a scream when you get to know me Talia. Let’s take a look at the reports.” Megan watches as Talia brings up her findings on her gauntlet, and analysing the data they both agree on a few things.

  “So you say that a section of the ship, possibly the loading bay, lies just a few miles behind us. That’s a possible trek for us today, and maybe we will find some supplies for tomorrow and the Gulmeds’ plan to go to the spire. Steg is having babies, so we can’t let them down really.”

  Talia points behind them as far as they can see. “Yes, Captain. Can you see the end of the creator gouge in the distance? It’s just off to the left of that. It is dense forest, but here are the photos of the wreckage from the drones.”

  Megan looks at the pictures. “Any video? It does look like the loading bay and possibly, there look, the runner dorsal wing.” Talia enlarges the picture and sure enough it is part of the runner and possibly, if it was intact, a way off the planet, but they both knew that things were never that straight forward.

  “No, sorry Captain, no video. Well, we could take a look. It would not take us long, we have a whole day, and base camp is well protected.”

  Megan is eager to find out more about the runner and if it was in one piece or not, and decides that Talia would go with her, leaving Titch and the Gulmeds behind to their own devices, while they both investigate further.

  “Ok then, Talia. Go let the others know and we will be off. The sooner, the better.”

  Megan stands looking into the distance, hoping that some good luck would come their way today and they could find a way to get off the planet. Talia soon returns from letting the others know and she sends off the two drones in front of them, as they did not want any surprises along the way. Megan activates her spear and holds it at her side, horizontal with her leg, and Talia activates her weapons, so they are at the ready if needs be.

  The two women slowly walk along the brunt uneven ground that the ship had ploughed through the day before. There were pieces of metal embedded in the forest around them and they smouldered now, the fires were all but out, apart from the occasional piece here and there. The air smelt of core fluid, and then they smelt pockets of fresh flowers and earth. The creatures were awake and although the sounds and cries made them cringe just somewhat, they began to recognize some of the calls, fearing a little bit what the creature could look like at the end of its screech.

  The sun was beginning to become hotter on them it seemed, as the day went along and after a while, they found a supply crate, dented and twisted. It was open and some of the contents had spilled out, but it was only a crate of hydraulic oil, which was not worth bothering over, so they passed by, slowly scanning the tree line each side of them. They were getting close to the site now, and that meant going into the forest and off the track. The drones come to a halt and await further instructions and the two women catch up to them, pausing for a few moments, thinking to themselves about that horrid looking vine the night before. Neither one of them wanted to go into the forest out of fear, but eventually Megan speaks up.

  “So, are we ready then? Let’s get it done out of the way, shall we? Send the drones in, Talia.”

  The drones find small gaps in the forest and float through the bushes and bracken type plants with ease. However, it was much harder work for the women, but they improvise using the spear and chainsaw, their cutting devices slashing their way through the spiky plants and other vegetation. The spikes seemed to be everywhere, and although it was plain sailing for Talia in all of her armour, Megan was being jabbed every second, by sharp vegetation. It was very slow going. The ground inside the forest was lumpy and soft, and the air and atmosphere was changing every minute. It had gone from hot, dry air to what was now cold and damp, and the further they went in to the dark depths of the forest, the danker and darker it was becoming due to the tree cover. At least the drones were not finding anything to worry about ahead of them, so all was good for the time being.

  It seemed like hours of cutting and breaking branches, and tripping over tangled vines and old tree roots, but they had only travelled a few hundred metres in when they came to a small clearing that was made by the weight of the metal carcass of ship now in front of them. Some of it was dangling down through the trees, and some of it rested on the floor. It would have made a great tree house, thought Talia, it was a sight for sore eyes indeed.

  The two drones were instructed to patrol the area around the debris, and the two women took time to sit for a while and take ten minutes to rest. It had been hard labour getting there and now they would have to carry things back to the others.

  “If this is what our trek to that spire is going to be like, it will take days to get there. Let’s hope that runner over there is operational.” M
egan pushed herself off the log she was sat on with Talia and straightened her back out. She swept back her hair from her eyes and coming across the first container in her way, she noticed the runner ship was at least intact, and she wanted to see if they could get lift off in it, which would save a lot of hassle.

  Talia joined Megan, after stopping to look briefly at the runner. Talia had noticed a tracked container, running her fingers over it as she passed. It was something that would normally be used to transport heavy goods onto a ship. They could use this to transport supplies back, if the core on it worked, something they could check in a few minutes.

  Pressing the door button to open the hatch, the lights came on inside the ship and the two women climbed on board, excited and hopeful that this could be their lucky break. Megan walked straight onto the bridge and began the pre-flight checks and began to power up the ship. The ship had sunk into the ground slightly at the rear and did have a lot of branches and vines all over it, but the engines should be powerful enough to pull the ship free in theory.

  “Do you want any help, Captain?” whispered Talia in Megan’s left ear, as she held on to the rear of Megan’s seat, bending down slightly and looking out of the window.

  Megan shakes her head. “No, I’m good here, thanks Talia. Take a look around if you like, try to make some order out of the mess outside.”

  Talia notices a suit hatch half open and that it contained a couple of light space suits, which would be ideal for Megan, and would offer some protection at least.

  “Captain, there are a few suits out here, shall I grab you one?” asks Talia.

  “Just leave one out for me there, thanks Talia. I will run a computer diagnostic and while that runs I will get changed,” shouts Megan through the bridge door opening.

  Talia leaves the suit and walks back down and off the ship and heads for the tracked crate. The lights come on and the engine begins to whine as the core becomes active again. She looks back and smiles. Megan had done it and they would soon be off the planet. Talia turns over the tracked trailer and clears the mud from it. She then opens the service panel on the side and calibrates it to be controlled by her gauntlet, and then doing some basic repair on a loose wire, the power flows through and it is active and ready for instruction. Talia then begins to load the trailer with supplies and for the most part all was intact, after all, that is why they packed everything in these sort of metal crates in the first place.

  The ships throttle is increased and it begins to pull slowly out of the mud, the vines and trees stretching over the top of the ship, hindering its progress, but as Megan increased the engine power, several vines shot out of the ground from underneath the ship and grab the ship with a vice like grip and then began to try to pull the ship back down.

  “Oh crap!” shouted Megan, remembering these vines were not the household type of plant to be playing with. Determined not to give in to the alien vegetation, Megan increased more power to the engines.

  Talia heard the increase in engine power and witnesses more long thick vines sprout out of the ground and latch onto the small ship. The engine was pulling the plant upwards and now Talia could see it was not just vines they had to worry about, it was the jaws on this thing. This plant could eat the ship with one bite by the looks of it. Its jaws began to make a munching sound and bits of bone sprayed out all over the surrounding area, from its last meal, clearing space for its new food. The stench was incredible, and Talia operates her helmet shield to breathe clean air again, while her two drones begin to open fire on the vines, trying to free the little ship which was now dwarfed by the size of the alien plant trying to get a meal. Talia begins to open fire with her blaster on her gauntlet and, after a few hits, a vine loses its grip and a loud roar echoes in the woods from this subterranean monster.

  But now it knew Talia was there and a vine slowly makes its way out of the soil behind her, snaking its way along the floor. One of the drones’ sensors tracks this, and it fires its small turbo jets and shoots past Talia’s head at great speed to engage the crafty vine, but more and more vines begin to sprout from the ground and the whole area was teaming with life, some of the vines still having remains of dead animals attached to them.

  Megan was being tossed around in the cockpit. She realizes that this thing was not going to let go and that she need to be off the ship, so she slides out of her chair, puts the ship at full power and sets it’s small blasters to fire at will. She then gets to the suit and drags it out through the broken door and begins to get into it in a hurry. Some of the vines trying to grip the rear of the ship are being burned to a crisp, and so it has become like a tug of war match, neither side giving in, and Megan did not want to be on board when the rope broke, that’s for sure. Putting on her gauntlet, she activates the suit’s jetpack and flies out of the rear of the ship through a gap in the vines, only to be swiped at by a large vine from the side of the ship that was not burned.

  The vines strength sends Megan spinning through the air like a corkscrew and as she loses flight control of her suit, she plummets to the ground, and with no helmet on she gets a mouth full of dirt in the process. Megan rolls down an embankment and comes to a halt sliding into a crate, where she gains her bearings and stumbles to her feet, glad she is off that metal tomb.

  “Shoot the ships engines, let it have its meal, it will get a gut ache!” shouts Megan over to Talia on the other side of the ship. More vines pop out of the ground, yellow bulbs push out of the ground, and things are looking scary now.

  As both of the women fend off the encroaching vines, a shrouded figure sat way up in a tree looks on with interest. It goes unnoticed up there on its perch, occasionally leaning out, and hanging by one arm to get a better view. Even the drones don’t pick up its life form signal, as it sits above Talia, not even making a sound.

  The giant plant now begins to show large roots that are covered in foot long barbs, as it lifts itself out of the ground, moving a ton of earth in the process and knocking both Talia and Megan off their feet with this small earthquake. They were still firing at the engine and finally the rear of the ship explodes, igniting the core fluid, and as the ship loses complete power it drops into the jaws of the plant, which is now standing up on five large roots which look like telegraph poles that were warped badly out of shape. The ship disappears into the putrid green coloured, bulb shaped head and then explodes inside, melting its way out through the plant, and burning yellow core fluid begins to spill down over its roots, setting them ablaze. The colours and patterns it makes on the ground is a beautiful sight.

  The vines all around them fall to the ground like streamers dropping without wind and cover the two women who are both still led on the floor. They both begin to laugh out loud.

  “That will teach it,” laughs Talia.

  Megan is laughing too, as she lifts a vine from her body. “Yeah, it sure will. Humans are off the menu.” After a few minutes laughing, the two friends continue to load the trailer and plan B is put into action. They are all but ready to leave the clearing when the ground begins to shake once again. Readying their blasters, they hold onto the trailer for support and to steady their aim. From underneath the melted mass of green smush, a massive stem pushes aside the plant and rockets up towards the sky, until it is around thirty foot into the air. On the end is a huge orange bulb, trying to seek out light, and swaying as it grows. When it stops, the large blub opens up slowly and a beautiful scent wafts around like warm honey. The two women lower their weapons and stand watching as it begins to throw out small parachutes of multi-coloured seeds, that fall like gentle rain onto the ground. They emit light as they fall, and then when they settle, tiny roots shoot out and sink into the soil. The floor becomes bright with a multi-coloured glow. It is like walking on a rainbow.

  The shrouded figure holds out his hand as one of the seeds comes to rest on it, trying to look for water with its tiny roots gripping his finger. The figure sprays it with a vapour and lets the plant drop down to the ground, and
then turns his attention back to the people on the ground that were now leaving.

  Talia turns around and looks back into the darkness of the trees and a glimmer of light on the floor. “It felt like someone was watching us all the time we were in there.”

  Megan and Talia are now sat on the crates on top of the mechanised trailer, making their way back to the Robur at a gentle speed.

  “Why didn’t you say?” asks Megan in her gentle voice.

  Talia scratches under her knee plate. “Did not want to freak you out in there,” she replies.

  “So a thirty foot plant wanting to eat us was not freaky enough for you then?” asks Megan, and they both chuckle.

  The journey back goes uneventful and as they arrive at the Robur and slip off the crates and back onto the floor, they realize that there’s no place like home, even if it is a bashed up tin hut, it was better that roughing it in the woods, which is where they would be for the foreseeable future while looking for the Gulmeds spire.

  Talia steers the trailer up onto the ship and into the canteen area and then begins to sort out the supplies with Megan.

  “So are we going to be coming back here or is this spire place somewhere we could live out the rest of our days?” asks Talia as she shuts down the power core on the trailer, so it can cool down.

  “I think it will be for good, by the way they have explained it to me. It sounds like a better place, maybe safer in some ways too. I don’t really know, but I’m sure we will get there and all will be good.”

  Talia and Megan are joined by Titch, who has modified his damaged arm into a multi-tool with flame-thrower from parts found on the ship, and he has done a good job by the look of things. His small yet strong frame is still able to get around at normal speed, and if a robot could smile, then he would be proud of his work.

  “Captain, mission complete. Weapon sourced and I am at your disposal.” Titch’s voice sounds slightly different from other robots, as it is a maintenance robot and is used to getting commands from a ships master-computer, and so communicates through codes not usually its voice, so his voice sounds quite automated and scratchy, almost like a recording. Megan would love to give him a new voice, but she does find the one he has quite cute and is made for him really.