by C. W Tickner
‘Sorry,’ Damen grumbled.
Kane’s glare switched to Harl.
‘Me too,’ Harl said throwing his hands up. ‘I should have insisted his didn’t have a drink first.’
Damen chuckled and Kane’s rage subsided, seemingly pleased with the apologies.
‘The hair?’ Harl said.
Kane ran a hand through the fuzz of white. ‘Just an electrical accident,’ he said. ‘It’s not major, at least not as major as this all world meeting that I hear is taking place. I assume I’m getting an invite?’
‘Of course,’ Harl said.
‘You can have my ticket,’ Damen said.
‘You’re both coming.’ Harl said.
‘Good,’ Kane said, ‘There will be a lot of important Aylen there. Now tell me about this person giving something to the intruders in the sewers.’
Damen went over the incident in the sewers and the discovery of a spy in the city. ‘Didn’t have a chance to discover anything else,’ he said. ‘No way of knowing what they gave the rider.’
‘It’ll be plans for this,’ Kane said turning to look with pride at the huge ringed metal tube squatting in the centre of the room. It looked cold to Harl and compared with the tale he’d heard of it making heat and light it seemed quite the opposite.
‘You think the Energy company are behind it then?’ he asked.
‘Of course they are,’ Kane said. He looked at a group of men enter and begin dismantling the scaffold that surrounded the reactor. ‘But it’s who is on inside that is bothering me.’
‘Who do you suspect?’ Damen asked. ‘We could make them confess.’
Kane laughed. ‘About the answer I expected from you.’
Damen frowned. ‘Then you can beat it out of them yourself.’
‘I think,’ Kane said keeping his voice low, ‘it might have something to do with Drake.’
‘The head?’ Harl said, remembering their recent meeting. Drake had always been the least involved with the humans since their arrival nearly a year ago but there was no reason to suspect an Aylen could be involved.
‘Can we be sure an Aylen is involved?’ he asked.
‘They are more likely to have contacts with Harvest Ten,’ Kane said. ‘Just think of what such a company could offer?’
‘If I didn’t know you better,’ Harl said with a grin, ‘I’d suspect they’d lured you in with promises of either some superior technology or a new ship.’
‘If only they had been wise enough to make an offer,’ Kane said.
‘Well they had to have made one to someone here,’ Damen said, ‘There ain’t no Aylen sticking their hand in here to find out. I’d say the entrance would be a bit of a tight squeeze. But I haven’t seen anyone in town with a sudden increase in resources or technology.’
‘Just keep your hunter’s eyes peeled,’ Kane said. ‘Until then, I have to get back to making this run.’
‘It’s not ready then?’ Harl asked.
‘Almost,’ Kane said, plucking out a small notepad and pen from his the pocket of his grubby white coat. He scribbled on the rough paper but Harl was unable to see what it said from the angle he held it at. ‘I can work through the night and be ready by morning. Assuming Tess is able to help without dragging that comb through her hair every time she has a tool in hand.
‘Problems?’ Damen asked.
‘Nothing your not experiencing yourself.’
Damen growled in his throat but Kane just strode through the shining hatch that led into the machine and slammed it shut.
Chapter 9
I’ve been staring at the man for hours and I can’t bring myself to do it. Time to find a canteen and gather some supplies while I decide what to do.
Harl twisted left then right to squeeze himself through the crowd of people gathered in the marketplace beside the entrance to the ship. Darkness had fallen fast and dim lights shone from the windows of nearby houses, powered by the waterwheels underneath. The stalls had a string of coloured lights running along their tops and instead of the clothing traders and resource suppliers, each stall now specialised in a meal type. The deer, cattle and sheep would have died naturally as was law on the island and the vegetables would be fresh from the fields. Although Harl doubted whether the stalls stuck to the letter of the law, he did his best to ensure the rules were followed. Old animals tended to be tougher than their youthful counterparts and he knew there was a quiet market for such delicacies.
He passed a stall with Uman behind and the man offered Harl a large free sample from one of the half dozen barrels of home brewed ales and spirits. The stall was doing a roaring trade and Uman was busy passing over mugs to the eager crowd as they awaited the switching on of the large flood lights that had been erected during day around the entire city.
Above the town stood a group of Aylen, including Veel and Vax, watching the revelry. Drake had not turned up but other Aylen were looking , maybe twenty in total. They were like children watching a bone beetle race, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
One of them beat a titanic drum and the crowd jumped in unison at the noise. The deep bass became a rhythm and a band of human musicians began to play a lively tune that incorporated the Aylen drum roll.
Troy and Dana were perched on a bench underneath a marquee that had been set up opposite the musicians stage.
‘Harl!’ Troy called, waving him over.
‘Good evening you two,’ Harl said, sliding on to the wooden bench opposite Troy. Dana nodded in her cool way as Harl eyed the glass of spirit in front of her.
‘Troy, your not hungover from yesterday are you?’ he asked, noticing the bare table in front of Troy. By this time in an evening it should be crowded with empty mugs.
‘Not been feeling right recently,’ Troy said, ‘Been rough the last month up on the fields, and coming home to drink each night don’t help my pretty head.’
Dana chuckled and threw back the glass of liquid.
‘Harl,’ she said standing and hopping over the table, ‘want a drink?’
‘No Thanks,’ he said.
‘Just because I’m not drinking,’ Troy said to her as she turned to the stalls, ‘doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like something to eat.’
‘For your pretty stomach?’ She said and made a beeline for a carvery beside the stage.
Harl laughed. ‘How are things between you two?’
‘Considering she hasn’t chopped off my man parts for looking at other women,’ Troy said. ‘Good. Truth be told she’s been looking after me since I started feeling bad and I’m grateful to have her around. Believe it or not she can cook.’
Harl raised an eyebrow.
‘Alright,’ Troy admitted, putting his hands up, ‘but she’s getting better. Might be worth staying ill until she qualifies.’ He laughed then broke into a hacking cough.
‘You should have Tess take look at you,’ Harl said.
‘Tried already,’ Troy said. ‘When I eventually got her away from her work she gave me a look over but nothing conclusive.’
‘Then I’ll ask Sonora,’ Harl said. ‘She’s good with these sort of things, she’ll have something cooked up in no time. Thanks.’ He said the last to Dana who’d put two plates heaped with juicy meat strips down between them and slid him a mug of Uman’s ale.
A loudspeaker crackled to life, forcing the musicians to a juddering halt. It took a while for the dancers to stop and eventually the Aylen above ceased beating its drum.
Kane’s voice, bursting with excitement, rippled over the crowd. ‘Everybody, your attention please. The moment you have all been waiting for has arrived. We have been working night and day for months to build this reactor. With it, the Compassionates will put themselves forward as one of the leading factions of the world and bring humanity with them. For once we expect a positive result at the polls for their next election that will see the end of the constant back and forth between Harvest Ten and the Bankers.’ A cheer rose from the crowd. ‘A new power will rise from this night. One
that will allow our tiny island to make a stand by providing the world with a power source that does not require humans or the death of other living things.’
A buzz rang through the speaker and spread around them as if through thin air to each of the floodlights until the back boxes on each light hummed.
In a moment of showmanship a single light lit up the top of Orbital revealing Kane in his white coat looking down over them. On a small pedestal beside him was an oversized switch. He grasped it with one hand and tugged. It moved a fraction and seemed to jam as he started jerking back and forward.
Harl was sure he heard Damen laugh from somewhere in the throng.
Kane gave it a final heave and the lever slammed down.
Bright light lit the world around them, building outwards from orbital as the electrical signal raced through Gorm. The lights in houses increased and a few of the bulbs along the string of lights above the stalls burst from the power surge.
The Aylen above them roared in unison and the people around Harl burst into shouts of joy.
‘Well done to him,’ Troy said, ‘although it would have been funny if it hadn’t worked after such an eloquent speech. Or better yet he’d been shocked as he turned it on.’
Dana shook her head but smiled at the thought.
Harl caught a glimpse of Damen’s black beard, braided to a point beneath his chin flash between the bustling crowd.
‘Damen!’ Harl called as the music burst in to life again.
Damen stopped when he heard but turned to walk on as Harl reached his side.
‘Where you off to in such a rush?’ Harl asked.
‘Sorack has requested my presence,’ Damen said, glancing up at the Aylen faces on the far side of Orbital.
‘Which one is he?’ Harl asked.
Damen pointed up to a pair of thick legs of an Aylen rising above the city. Sorack’s face was the usual grey of Aylen males but something in the face seemed familiar.
When they reached the feet of the Aylen, Harl felt like a bug waiting to be squashed.
Sorack crouched down and then sat. The tremors rumbled through the ground as Damen an Harl staggered backwards.
Harl clipped his translator over his ear as Sorack began to talk to Damen.
‘Thank you Damen, son of Terman for your service in my home today. The pests are gone and I can live peacefully without them stealing food or clogging up pipes.’
‘It was a pleasure,’ Damen said.
‘Is this Harl?’ Sorack asked turning his yellow pupils on Harl.
‘It is,’ Damen said.
‘Then,’ Sorack said, leaning over Harl. ‘I need to thank you also.’
‘For what?’
‘For helping my brother.’
‘Your brother?’ Harl asked.
‘Vorock,’ Sorack said.
‘I’m sorry for what happened to him,’ Harl said trying to hide his shock. He could see now why the face was familiar. ‘In truth we all have him to thank for bringing us here.’
Sorack nodded. ‘He atoned in the end.’
‘Atoned?’
‘He was not always kind to humans,’ Sorack said. ‘Before he became engrossed with his human friends he worked for Harvest Ten.’
‘What did he do?’ Damen asked.
‘He was, as you must know, a great designer. He made his initial wealth by designing the organic matter converters for the company. When he ran short on funds for his other projects he would sell the means to upgrade the converters to increase efficiency.’
‘You mean he was responsible for more efficient killing of humans?’ Damen said.
‘I didn’t know,’ Harl said. ‘He said he’d worked with machines but this...’
‘Eventually,’ Sorack said, ‘he repented in his choices and refused to work with Harvest Ten. They started a campaign of trying to ruin him. When you found him he was destitute but happy.’ Sorack made a low noise, almost beyond Harl’s hearing but he could feel a strong vibration ripple through his body.
A couple of the other Aylen looked around at Sorack.
‘Damen,’ Sorack said, putting a hand inside a pouch that was strapped to his metallic clothing. ‘This is for you.’ He placed what to him must have been a tiny object on the ground in front of them. Damen picked up the metal object and slipped it over his hand.
It was a matt black metal gauntlet. Dozens of tiny plates made up the piece and it clinked as Damen flexed his fingers and held it up to his face.
Sorack grinned down at them. ‘I made this in my spare time at Micro-Elements,’ he said, ‘and thought you might like it as a reward for your hard work. It is made of densium.’
Damen clenched his hand as if to punch and the plate compacted together and stopped dead.
‘Woah,’ Damen said, stepping back and trying to rip the gauntlet off. ‘Get it off, Sorack!’
‘Relax,’ Sorack said and Damen stared at the fist as the armour plating loosened and he was able to wiggle his fingers again.
‘It is a lock fist,’ Sorack said. ‘When you choose, it can harden and fix in place, able to withstand even my attempts to crush it.’
Damen eyed the gauntlet then flicked his wrist. It shrunk a fraction and the fingers froze.
‘A mighty gift, Sorack,’ Damen said, ‘I am indebted to you for this.’
‘Sorack shook his head, slow a steady. ‘It was a fair exchanged Dame-’
He stopped as a huge light brown bird landed on the his shoulder.
‘What is it?’ Sorack asked Sky, who was too far up from Harl for him to hear her reply but she pointed at the sea wall that surrounded the island as she spoke.
Sorack waved to her in thanks as she launched up into the sky heading towards the next Aylen.
‘An Aylen has passed close to the walls and is circling the island,’ Sorack said.
‘More intruders?’ Damen asked.
A loud bang shook Orbital and the hull reverberated as all the floodlights burst in a shower of glass and sparks. People screams rang out as panic spread through the crowd and the sound of weapons came from inside the ship.
Chapter 10
Well, I won’t run out of food. There’s enough in the canteen alone to supply me for years. The only problem? It’s all cryo food and tastes like all the flavour has been watered down. What I wouldn’t give for bacon and eggs.
The guard inside the sentry post stumbled aside as Damen and Harl burst in to the small room.
‘Open the lockers.’ Damen ordered the man.
The soldier fumbled at his belt for a set of keys and thrust one into the largest locker, pulling open the doors to reveal rows of rifles and brand new pistols on a central rack. Hung on hooks inside each door were several armour suits.
Harl snatched one off the hook and was threading a leg through when Troy and Dana pushed past the guard.
‘They’re inside the ship,’ Troy said, rushing to the cabinets and pulling down a suit. ‘They got in by the opposite entrance.’
‘Must have blown the powerlines,’ Damen said as he checked his rifle then looked up at Troy and burst in to laughter.
‘What?’ Troy said.
Troy had taken a rifle which he strapped over one shoulder and stuffed all his pockets with clips before wedging a pair of pistols into straps on his suit.
‘You sure you have enough?’ Harl said.
Troy glanced down at himself and shrugged as if oblivious to being a walking weapon.
‘We could chuck him in the ship,’ Damen said, ‘and shoot him until he explodes.’
‘Where are they?’ A voice challenged the guard from outside.
‘Inside, sir,’
Kane burst in, his face was as white as his jacket. He was holding a radio and a notepad and pen. ‘They’ve got Tess!’
‘Where?’ Harl asked.
‘In the reactor,’ he said. ‘One moment she was on the radio screaming about men inside and then...’ he trailed off.
‘Let’s get her then,’ Troy said picki
ng up another pistol and tossing it to Kane.
With both hands full, Kane dropped the notepad just catching the pistol before it too hit the floor.
Damen was squinting at the notebook that had fallen face up. Kane slipped the pistol in his jacket and snatched the pad up before Harl could read any of the words.
But he caught Damen’s questioning look to Kane and the scientist’s nearly imperceptible shake of the head.
‘Come on then,’ Damen said, breaking eye contact with Kane to inspect each of them. ‘Let’s go get her.’
Kane led them down the stairs and through a series of rooms stacked with boxes and piles of dented metal.
Reaching the top of another set of stairs, Kane skidded to a halt and fumbled for his pistol. The noise of his feet grating on the metal floor was enough to alert the two guards below.
They all jumped back as the men raced up the first turn in the stairway to the turn at the bottom. Red blasts soared up and hit the ceiling. The shots kept coming, even though they must have been out of sight from the enemy below.
‘They’re trying to pin us,’ Damen said, shuffling to the right side of the stairs and taking cover behind the waist high barrier that stopped someone falling to the level below.
He sprung up and returned a barrage of blue shots down at the men.
One screamed and Harl risked moving to the head of the steps to look down as he let loose with the pistol. Both were still alive, dressed in a shimmering armour underneath thick cloaks. They looked gaunt and their faces seemed branded with a constant scowl. They had some sort of device clipped to their heads, flashing with small LED’s. One was cursing at the burn on his hand as they back peddled down the next set of stairs directly under Damen and out of Harl’s line of fire.
Troy joined Harl and together they took a few steps down. Harl turned to his right trying to target the men with his pistol. Green shots crashed into the rail, nearly taking out Harl’s leg. Troy tried to return fire, leaning out in front of Harl and wasting a dozen rapid shots on the wall.
‘Back up,’ Harl called as the two enemies made a push forward. Troy scrambled back.