Borrelia looked at him. He knew the garrison commander was dead, along with most of his troops. Few had escaped the onslaught from the aliens. Who’d thought they’d burn everything? And then help put out the fires? Now, he had nothing more to lose in dealing with this petty tyrant, and was determined to go with dignity and courage. Sucking his sphincter tight, he said, “Highness, they left when they got the bodies of their comrades, not before. We hardly did any damage to them at all, and they left a city in flames, but returned to extinguish the fires, and it would probably be burned to the ground otherwise. And all the world knows it.”
“Don’t you think I know that–how the hell’d they transmit those signals, I gave orders to jam everything from space?”
Imbecile. What an ass. “They destroyed the jammers, too. Most of our transmitting stations are off the air, all our sats blown out of orbit. Next it’ll be the studios themselves. Don’t you think it’s time to talk to these beings?”
“Infidels from space? Heathen freaks? Never. I will drive them off, then follow them to their miserable holes, and snuff them out.”
“I do not think that will be possible.”
T’ming stopped his pacing, whirled to face Borrelia. “So they have corrupted you, you have lost your courage, your heart, too, Borre, my most trusted servant? You live in fear now? Even you doubt my ability, my objectives?”
“Your objectives are not in doubt. It is the ability of the off-worlders we seem to have difficulty overcoming.”
“Not for long. Now that we know what to hit them with, the next time, we’ll knock them all out, and get those floaters for ourselves, and then go after them. Preparations are under way.”
“If you say so, my lord.”
“Indeed. Now, give me an analysis of where...” He stopped suddenly, cocked his head, lifted a small device to his ear, and said, “Ah, I must take this call. I will return momentarily, and we can finish our discussion then.”
Borrelia watched him and his guards leave, knowing he would not return. Fool, did he not think that it was obvious the small light on his phone did not go on? That his call was a sham? He did not even have an aide fake it for him. He’d noticed the subtle change in attitude, in the look, and knew his fate was sealed. So be it. Borrelia took a breath, exhaled, squatted, held his bowels, and waited for the inevitable.
The wait went on for a while. Then a radio chimed on one of the guards behind him, and he knew time was up. Still, he sat and waited.
Above him, from the corner of the room, and intense lime-green pencil thin beam winked on, and immediately off. Behind him, a short scream, cut off in the middle, and then a thump and noise of something flopping around on the floor.
Borrelia, surprised, ducked and turned slowly, to see one of the guards, limbs a tremble, lying there, a gun to the side, a puddle of blood expanding at his neck, dark, stinking stains on the floor between his hind legs. The guard stopped moving, but the bloody pool kept on expanding.
“What the hell happened?” he said, looking at the other guard, his own bowels loosening. “Why did you shoot him?” A jet of waste spurted out his own anus. He trembled in fear, his muscles out of control.
This one crouched behind the cushions, peering intently for the source of the light beam. Then he looked at Borrelia, raised his arm, and steadied his hand, a gun pointing at his head.
But again, another beam of light flashed, from the other corner, hitting the guard directly between the eyes, splattering hair, skull, pieces of brain, and red blood backward, up onto the wall, in a colorful pattern. The guard dropped, and this one did not move again.
“What is happening?” Borrelia said again, waste loudly evacuating his sphincter, looking at the corpses around him and hiding himself, as best he could, between two cushions, thinking they all would be killed.
The closest window suddenly cracked into a million fractures, and the pieces fell, almost silently, to the ledge. Outside, one of those alien floaters sat, a door open, showing an ugly creature sitting at some sort of controls.
Another alien, one of those that looked somewhat like himself, covered in a dark suit, moved into view, and a voice said, “Get in and live, or stay here and die. The choice is yours.”
Borrelia stared at it, fear loosening his bowels yet again. He felt them evacuate loudly, more diarrhea. He trembled. How could this be happening? What is happening? He stayed where he was.
“We will give you safe passage anywhere you wish. If you remain here, you will die. What is your decision?”
“There is nowhere safe on this planet for me.”
Lori heard the exchange, and said, “Tell him we can take him to off planet, to Uta, or anywhere else in the system, if he wants. But that’s it.”
Borrelia considered, a chance to live before him. He said, “You do not understand. My spouse, my family, are doomed, if I leave this place. If I stay, they will live. I will stay.”
“Strong courage. Perhaps we have a man with some honor after all. Tell him we’ll get his family. How many are there?” Lori said.
“A wife, two females, one with young, and a male. The male is military.” Borrelia looked in pain, his concern obvious
“If you can show us where they are, we will get them immediately.”
“How can you do that?”
“The same way we found you. Only now, we have you to help us.”
Borrelia looked at the stinking mess around him. He had no doubt of the alien’s ability to do exactly what they said, improbable as it seemed. Still, he feared, his intestines cramped and painful, their contents gone. But to stay is death. Maybe he could flee, get them, everyone off this cursed planet, after all. Tightening his sphincter, he walked to the window, and entered the floater.
They knew where he lived, and flew him there faster than he’d ever imagined, much faster even than the few times he’d been picked up by one of the military helicopters. And silently, too, so quietly, he could hardly believe they moved. But move they did, and in moments, the floater–the aliens in their translated language called them “air cars”–settled down in the inner courtyard to his mansion. He raced out, knowing it would be the last time he’d ever see it. His wife jumped at his sight, surprised at his silent arrival. She ran to him, saying, “I thought I would never see you again.” They hugged briefly, but Borrelia quickly eased apart.
“Umari, you would not have, but for the aliens. That despot T’ming tried to kill me.”
His wife trembled. She said, “Aliens?”
“Yes,” he said, pointing to the courtyard, “They brought me here in that.”
Umari looked out, at the shiny air car, gave a little cry, and trembled again. “You fool, now we all will die.”
“No, they will take us away. All of us. Call Domi, tell her we go there immediately. Where is Kedri?” he said, starting toward the private areas upstairs.
“She rests...how will they...?”
“How they got me. They can do anything, these aliens....”
Umari screamed, to see one of the look-alikes walk inside, followed by one of the giant insect monsters. The alien said through the translator, “You have family. Tell us where we might find them, and we will do so.” It opened one of its devices to display a bright flat screen. Borrelia recognized the area of his house on a color map rendering.
He told his wife to get their daughter, and went to the alien. Staring at the map, he waved to the far side, saying, “They live off that way...” and immediately, the imaged moved, slowly, he watched, then pointed, saying, “There.”
The image zoomed in, amazing him, real time, he thought, seeing moving cars and even people as the streets defined. With his finger, he pointed to an area, then a block, then a home. Still the image enlarged, he could see the house, the car parked outside. The image slipped down to almost ground level, in the backyard, and moved slowly toward the door.
“Call the person, are they inside?”
Amazed, Borrelia reached for the phone, but t
he alien said, “No, speak here, the phone lines are no doubt monitored. Speak into the device.”
“Domi,” he said. “It’s your father, come to the back door.” Nothing happened, so he repeated the call, and a very small native opened the door, saying, “Grandpa?”
The child’s eyes rose, to stare at them out of the screen.
“Tannika, get you mother, quickly, this is an emergency, get her here now.”
With another long look, the child ran away, and soon returned, pulling on the arm of an adult. The woman stopped, staring, and Borrelia quickly greeted her.
“Is this a trick?” the woman said, easing back inside.
“No, listen, it is I, your father. The aliens have lent me this device so I might speak to you.” He paused, and the woman moved a millimeter closer. “Domi,” he said, “we are marked for death, all of us, by that despot, T’ming. We must leave immediately. But the aliens will protect us, and come to get you and bring you here. It is safe. Mother and I will see you soon. Bring only what you absolutely need. Bring Tannika, too. Quickly.”
“What about Kladar?” she said.
“We will get him, too. Where is he?”
“At work, at the office...he’ll never...”
“Call him, say nothing directly, only that you are coming into town, and will see him soon, and he is to leave with you. Do it now.”
“Daddy, is this for real? Is it a trick? What is happening?”
“This is for real. It is not a trick. It is life or death, yours, Tannika's, your mother’s and mine.” He added another word, one that did not translate. Only then did the woman grab the child’s hand and rush away.
Borrelia turned to look at the alien. “You will get her and bring her here?”
“As soon as they are ready. A hagazzii attends them now. Are there others we must seek?”
“Yes, the husband of Domi. And my son. He is in the military, on a base, far away.” He moved to a table, pulled off a framed photo. “This is Alexii.” The alien scanned it with some sort of tiny device.
“Where in the world is the son?” the alien asked, turning to the display device. The image on the screen shrank to a small square in one upper corner. A large round globe replaced it. His world. As the world turned, Borrelia waited, and then pointed. Again, the image raced at him, but not entirely to the ground, stopped some distance away.
The alien said, “We have some time, here, I think. It will be a few minutes now.”
“Call me when you are ready,” Borrelia said, “And watch for her return,” he added, pointing to the square on the device, and hurried up and away. To his relief, the ugly one stayed at the machine, the other one followed him upward toward his private quarters. As he began to gather up things, he questioned the being on why they were doing this. The answer, and those to additional questions, came slowly, as if waiting for translation, or something, and revolved around the desire of someone called the Sky Lady to speak with him. Yes, her. And is it really a “She?” But he figured that in this, as in the previous conversations with the aliens, the very few he’d had after that meeting in the tent, he spoke with lesser members of the alien delegation, and who knew how accurate the translation, what words were correct, what not. He recognized the delay in response, while answers were obtained from higher members, or others. He wondered if he’d get to talk to the leader itself, and if he’d be astute enough to notice when he did. That name rang in his mind, and an image returned there, of one he’d met in the tent a while ago. She? No...?
He began rummaging through drawers, piling things of importance into a travel case, photos, the small computer and disks, wondering how he’d ever power it, and mementoes of his life. It piled up, too much, he feared, but the alien said nothing, just helped pack things away.
They called him to the device again, and he helped plot it to the area where he thought his son would be, to an area of the globe in late afternoon, just ahead of the faint terminator, then down toward several buildings. The alien said they would find him, and soon did, calling him again to speak to Alexii. The son seemed hesitant to do anything, until Borrelia spoke the code word, then agreed to go off by himself, to a field nearby, and await pickup. Borrelia went back to his packing, looking through a lifetime of mementoes. What to try to bring? Not much more, he decided.
Mere moments later, his daughter, her husband, and their child, his beloved granddaughter rushed in. He hugged them both, kneeling to hold Tanni, trying to reassure the fearful and trembling child. He succeeded to a degree, told them all briefly what had happened, and what options lay before them. He motioned to the alien, who bowed briefly in greeting, and then he showed them the view screen.
And suddenly, a face appeared on the screen, and he knew he saw him. Or her. The voice on the machine said, “The Sky Lady will speak to you now.”
Seeing the face, the same one as the cool, ugly strange being in the tent, the one who ignored much of what he said, and kept an admirable level to her demeanor, stared at him. Perhaps, they all looked the same. But yes, this face, so ugly, more so with her injuries, yes, this was it. Female? She, the one the others who came to him later in the tent, and warned him of, and they were right. This one, this female yet, oh, surely not, this one already wrought such changes in the life of the planet, nothing would ever be the same. And more were sure to come, no doubt. His disappearance would spawn fear in the higher circles, and retaliation from T’ming. Guards would perish, he thought. Then he smiled inward at the thought that the guards might not go quite so willingly, might revolt, use their guns...gads, even more changes by one so puny, so weak, so unlikely...
Remembering who she was, and not knowing exactly what to do, he fell to his knees, bowing his head, and said, “My lady, I am in your debt.”
“Yes, Borrelia, you are, and it is a debt I fear you will not repay, nor are capable of repaying.”
He looked up, clenching his anus once again.
“What is the cost, that I might try?”
“Simply this. Henceforth, you will live your life as one of honor. You will conduct yourself as an honorable gentleman, in all your affairs, personal, professional, official, and recreational. You will serve as a model to others, that they might look up to you, and see you as an example to follow.”
She was right. Impossible. No deceit? No treachery? No duplicity, no intimidation? No intrigues, no alliances to be made and broken? He looked at her. “And if I refuse? It is difficult in this society...”
“But not in others. If you refuse, and you may, you may stay here, and continue your life as best you can.”
Too late for that. “How will you know?”
“I will watch you all the days of your life.”
He shrank down. Trading one despot, one he know and could manipulate–in the past at least, no longer–for one he did not know, and doubted he could influence one way or another. Maybe death might be better. But he looked over at his family, his grandchild huddling with his wife, everyone watching him. Yes, his life of ease and riches was over, so be it. The next would be unmercifully hard. But theirs might at least be passable. For them, then.
“What then, is honor?” he said, stalling for time.
“Honor is truth. Honor is honesty. Honor is respect for your fellow beings. Honor is goodness, and friendship, and compassion. Honor takes the more difficult route, if it serves your fellow people. Honor is giving of yourself, is dealing fairly and honestly with others in all matters, and setting the good example. Honor does not accept dishonor, and refuses to associate with it, or with dishonorable people. Honor is taking the right course, even when death threatens. Honor is to do good, even when all around you do bad, and mock and insult you for your goodness. Honor is doing right, even when it cost you something, perhaps even everything. You have shown me honor, and for that reason, I have spared you from the wrath of T’ming.”
He thought back on what the aliens had said, and done. Over and over, they tried to meet with and talk with his peopl
e, and they had always betrayed them, rebuffed them. We laughed at them, ridiculed their customs, ambushed them, killed and abused them, thought them weak and stupid. And the alien’s assault in Novaja was simply to retrieve the bodies, not for revenge. Had it been so, what then? They washed the steps where stained with the blood of their comrades. They rescued this one, reduced the prison in Ostrova to rubble, released the prisoners. Was that honorable? Yes, and an example, and a warning, one we refused to accept.
“Sky Lady,” he said, adopting the term of the others. “I will accept your offer. I pledge on my life, and give my solemn word, to do as you say.” He spread his arms wide, and bowed his head, the traditional way, one that exposed him to beheading, if the other party rejected his pledge. Would she know that?
Lori recognized the gesture, accepted it for what it might be worth.
“I accept your pledge. Now rise, finish gathering what you may, and get in the lighter. You have little time. A military force approaches.”
“Where will I go now? There is no where safe on this planet for us.”
“Here, to my home in the sky. Off and away from the planet. There I will meet you. You and your family will be my guests. And you will all be safe here.”
His astonishment must have shown, and he said, “Sky Lady, I am not worthy of such honor.”
“Then you must work to repay the additional debt you will incur. I will see you here. Hurry, now, I cannot delay the military indefinitely. I see your son is retrieved. He will meet you here.” And the screen blanked.
They have Alexii already? he wondered.
Turning to his family, who’d seen and heard everything, he said, “Get immediately what you need and can carry, get it into the flying machine at once. We leave in moments.”
He raced to his study, to gather more discs, his portable computer, and a box of family photo books. Looking at the dark coolness of the place, he knew he’d miss it. Hurrying, yelling to the others, he visited the bathroom one more time, found by now he was drained dry. He locked his keep, pulled the false wall closed in front of it, hoping for the best. With a final, slow look back into the depths of the house, he climbed aboard, after the last of his family, and sat on the cushioned bench, while one of the ugly ones strapped him into a harness of some sort. Then his stomach fell, as the machine raced upward, while he watched their departure on a large screen that dropped from the ceiling in the front of the floating air car thing.
T-47 Book II (Saxon Saga 6) Page 37