Alien Victory

by Mark Zubro

  Mike saw doubt and hesitation in the looks of some of the men. “We’ve got to let them try. If they fail, they’ll have learned on their own. Maybe they’ll succeed.” There were snorts of derision at this.

  Mike spoke over them, “And if they succeed maybe we’ll have learned something. We’ve spread beyond the plans that were set up for us in small ways. We’ll do it more, but if these guys succeed it could give us another way of inhabiting the planet. Besides, in the thousands and millions to come we’re going to have a lot of psychologically damaged people. It hasn’t been so bad in our group and until Bir’s death, not tragically so. We’ve had planning, training, responsibilities. We’ve been kept busy preparing for and doing our tasks. Most of those that come after us are going to be dumped here, most likely unprepared, probably confused and frightened, certainly angry. We’ve got to be as ready for them as possible. I want to settle this problem of Leavers now. We can’t stop them. Imprisoning them would be too bizarre.”

  Brux said, “A little death might be effective.”

  Mike gave him a look.

  Brux shrugged. “Just a thought.”

  “Let’s set up a guard rotation,” Joe said. “I don’t think they’d steal stuff. They can only take what they carry and that won’t be very much. But other than stealing stuff, they might get carried away and start wrecking things. We better make sure the security is tight.”

  Brux said, “I’ll take care of it, and I’ll be fair, don’t worry. Plus, in case they try and wreck things or sabotage them, I can tie in the alarm system easily enough.”

  “They wouldn’t wreck things, really would they?” one of the men asked.

  Brux tapped him on the arm. “Honey, as I’ve said before, never underestimate the amount of, or the power of stupidity.” He paused for a moment then said, “I had a thought. What if we just announce we’re all going with them? Wouldn’t that drive them nuts?”

  Joe smiled. “If I was assured that it would, I’d pack up in a minute.”

  “One thing,” Mike said.

  “What’s that?” Joe asked.

  Mike said, “The spy can’t have been among the Leavers. They were the most negative and contrary of the colonists. If I wanted a spy among us, I’d wanted him to stay with the main group. I assume I’m the main object of their attention. As long as I’ve got this little doohickey in my head, I guess I’ll always have friends.”

  Brux said, “How the hell are they going to get anywhere in the mountains? We aren’t scheduled for ground transport vehicles until we have over a hundred thousand people.”

  Joe said, “I guess they’ll walk like we all do.”

  Brux asked, “In the rain? And the snow-line now starts within spitting distance of the colony.”

  Joe said, “They have an equal right to their own stupidity.”

  “I guess it’s something like that,” Mike said. “And the storms have been receding for a week. Depending on how fast they go, the storms may recede in front of them.”

  “They have no way of getting more provisions,” Brux said. “Why they haven’t thought of that is beyond me.”

  “Maybe they have,” Joe said. “Maybe there’s something about this we don’t know yet.”

  “Or is the killer smart enough to have staged this so he can’t be caught?”

  “That’s why they chose now to leave?”

  “The killer, I presume so. The others, I’m not so sure.”

  “But Cak isn’t going.”

  “He’s not the killer?”

  None of them knew the answer to that.

  The meeting broke up. Mike, Joe, and Brux hung back. Joe said, “They’re leaving hours after the murder? One of them is the killer and is using this as an excuse to get away.”

  Brux said, “I agree.”

  Mike added, “It’s the most logical. If they waited a week, they could for sure follow the storms up the mountains rather than leaving in them.”

  Joe said, “They’ll have advanced outdoor gear. No one has used any of it so far. There’s tons of the stuff. I’ve even managed to trade it for a few things especially with Nek’s crew.”

  Mike said, “They’re welcome to it. Maybe we will be a little safer with them gone.”

  Brux said, “I hope so. I wish Cak had gone with.”

  “That was odd,” Mike said. “And I want to talk to Krim. Him leaving doesn’t make sense.”

  Brux said, “It must to him.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Mike sought out Krim at his work station. When he saw Mike the boy looked scared and defiant. Mike said, “I’m not going to try to change your mind or yell at you. I’d just like to know why you’re leaving.”

  “I think I’m in danger here. Whoever killed Bir hasn’t been caught.”

  “But whoever killed Bir could be going with you.”

  Krim looked stubborn. “It will be safer.”

  Mike said, “I wish you the best of luck. I hope you’re safe and everything works out.” He turned to go.

  Krim reached out toward him.

  Mike’s aura grew.

  Krim asked, “Are we all really going to die?”

  Mike said, “I guarantee it. We all are. Whether it’s here or in a hundred years, I don’t know. Nobody can guarantee the end.”

  Krim hung his head.

  Mike left.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Mike and Joe accompanied the Leavers to the highest and most distant part of the colony. They wanted to be inside the mountains for as long as possible.

  As the men stood on the Rainbow Mountain observation shelf, the Leavers hefted their packs. It was just before dawn and the rain was down to a fine drizzle. They put on what looked like cling-wrap outfits over their regular clothes. Mike had ordered all the stuff they were taking be brought here for them.

  Karsh did not express thanks. Without a look back, the old curmudgeon marched off. Krim looked back and lifted his hand in a small wave. Mike and Joe waved back. “Good luck,” Mike called. Krim gave a brief smile then turned and began to walk up the slope.

  Mike and Joe gazed at the view for a few moments as the growing light brightened the gray over the plain. They still had their day’s work to do.

  Once back inside Joe said, “Why didn’t Cak go with?”

  “He’s not as stupid as he sounds?”

  Joe smiled. “No, I think he’s even stupider than he sounds.”

  “He’s the spy?”

  Joe shook his head. “Or one spy went with them and one spy stayed.”

  “Maybe everybody’s a spy except us.”

  Joe laughed. “I’m not sure even Bex is that clever.”

  “I think the killer went with them. We’ve got no proof, but it sure seems convenient that they finally left the day after the killing and before anyone was caught or confessed. I don’t buy that bullshit, ‘we’re not safe here’. Hell, we’re not safe anywhere. Right now a portion of the universe is trying to kill us.”

  “I got no argument with any of that,” Joe said. “I still don’t understand why Krim went with them.”

  “I think Karsh was his best client. He felt he owed him.”

  “Owed him what?”

  “Loyalty?”

  “That’s not loyal that’s…”

  Mike interrupted. “I want to think well of the kid.”

  They separated in the upper regions. Mike headed for his digger. Two minutes after leaving Joe, Cak stepped out of the shadows. Mike’s aura glowed at its lowest level.

  Cak put a hand out.

  Mike stopped.

  “Please listen a minute. I know we’re not friends. And it’s been my fault a lot for the antagonism between us. I’m sorry.” Cak paused for a moment then smiled up at Mike. “I’m really not a bad person. I care what happens here as much as anyone. I…” Cak faltered. “I lost my lover. The collectors took us one night. We had no warning. I’ve never seen him again.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know why I told you that.
Maybe I wanted you to see that I’m human too. I know you’re doing the best that can be done. I respect that. I’m sure I’ll oppose you in the future at colony meetings, but like I said, I’m human. I’m not the evil person that you seem to think I am.”

  Mike didn’t know what to think. He didn’t trust Cak. Yet he didn’t want to rebuff what seemed to be a genuine peace overture. Mike said, “I appreciate what you said. I’ll remember it. Maybe in the future, we can agree to disagree agreeably. Fair enough?”

  “Sure,” Cak said. He held out his hand.

  Mike’s glow winked out. He shook Cak’s hand. Mike felt some of the tension drain out of him.

  That evening Mike sat in their cubicle. He worked at his computer console studying the latest supply orders. Over the months he’d learned that by clever manipulation he could often over-order vast amounts of supplies and not be questioned about it. He’d even learned a few other tricks.

  Mike punched several codes into the computer. He watched the monitor in silence. A moment later he smiled in satisfaction. He turned to Joe, “You will be happy to know I have defeated the computer conspiracy again.”

  Joe laughed. “What’d you get for us this time?”

  Mike told him.

  “Kind of an odd assortment.”

  “It is not mine to question the whimsical oddities of the bureaucracies of the central government. It is only mine to grab as much as I can for this colony without breaking any laws, or getting the government computers to notice what I’m doing.”

  “Or at least without getting caught.”

  Mike smiled. “I can barely imagine them trying to take all of the stuff back. They can’t do anything to me personally.” Mike spread his arms. “I’m already here. Down is down as Meganvilia used to say. Lower doesn’t exist from this.”

  He told Joe about the encounter with Cak.

  “Do we trust him?” Joe asked.

  “I don’t.”

  “Why the change of heart?”

  “Maybe he was feeling lonely.”

  Joe shook his head. “I guess it could happen.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  The day after the Leavers left, Brux reported, “They’ve turned off all communications with us.”

  “We should have sent a spy with them.”

  “Who would want to go on an impossible journey against unbelievable odds?”

  After the conversation, Mike and Joe walked to the colony entrance and stood just inside the opening and watched the rain.

  It was sunset, one of the times of the day the rain was least. They took their shirts off. It was as close as they would come to an Earth-like shower. They strolled down the ramp and then along the tops of levees between fields of underwater plants or alongside gurgling irrigation canals. The rain was cold, but they endured it to get the feeling of being clean. They couldn’t swim in the irrigation canals. Even in the warm months when the water heated, it was mixed with chemicals to help the plants. Swimming in it would have been like swimming in heavily-fertilized water on Earth. Building a healthy swimming pool was low on their list of priorities.

  They stopped at the intersection of two canals, one running at flood level, the other halfway to the rim. By shifting watergates, they could redirect the flow in any direction they choose, except up and back to where the water came from.

  The sun was setting over the mountains behind them. They watched the darkness blanket the sky. Joe broke the silence. “Even with the Leavers being gone, they could be a problem.”

  “How so?”

  “Look at the example it’ll set. The men could think, why am I working so hard? Those guys didn’t like it. They up and left. A lot of the guys have questioned why we should bust our butts for those who come next. They figure let’s do enough for us and the hell with the rest of them. There aren’t a lot that feel that way, but there are some.”

  “I know. After what they’ve been through, what we’ve all been through, it’s hard to give every ounce of strength to what may turn out to be another cosmic joke on us. But we have to. I know this place will work. This can be a haven, a real home for us. I don’t think there’s a choice. My goal now is to minimize the disruption.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Two months had passed since the Leavers left. The colony had been much quieter. Mike still felt uneasy about Cak not having gone with them. Maybe the guy just didn’t like taking chances. Or he was a spy? Or he knew who the killer was? Or the killer had left?

  Mike’s investigation into who had killed Bir had stalled completely. He assumed the killer was off dying in the mountains somewhere.

  Full rain would start again in days. They could now hear the thunder at night and day. Lightning remained most vivid at night. Still some of the louder cracks reached their ears as the noise echoed down the canyons. As with the first rains, rivers had started to appear as water cascaded over falls into the valley outside.

  Mike worked in an entrance to an upper level. They dug straight into the mountain instead of constantly tunneling down and then across. Plans were that within the week this whole new sector would have room for twenty-five hundred men, all the rooms conforming to the more spacious design.

  Mike and the crew, starting at 6:00 A.M. were three hundred feet into the mountain with one hundred rooms done before the noon break. Mike inspected the cuttings for the first perpendicular hallway for the level. He found them true and accurate. After these months he found the work to be second nature.

  Since the Leavers had left there had been no more incidents of sabotage. No murders. Mike didn’t want proximity to get mixed up with causation, but to him these were telling statistics.

  Mike heard the whine of the other men’s tools. He glanced behind him, saw them working, noticed briefly their mostly naked bodies. The work, along with being exhausting, was also affecting their physiques. New muscles formed. If their situation weren’t so desperate, he imagined they all might be beginning to look like an incipient convention of porn stars in some twisted, demented, hellish resort. In the tunnels they wore only a simple pair of light brown shorts. Mike enjoyed the freedom it gave him in moving around.

  He hesitated in his work, shut off the digger. He thought he heard a discordant sound. He listened a moment, looked at the others. None of them had stopped. All worked intently. He looked at his communicator. No message there. He shrugged, turned his digger back on.

  A few minutes later, he sensed a commotion behind him before he heard it. He turned.

  Rix, now the youngest colony person since Krim had left, ran toward them down the newly dug hall. He saw Mike and ran up to him. Rix was out of breath.

  “The alarm,” he panted. “Can’t you hear it?”

  The other men stopped working. In the silence Mike could faintly hear the braying klaxon.

  “Let’s go,” he said to them.

  They dashed out of the tunnel, heading for the communications room. Outside the entrance Mike saw men running from the fields and rushing up from underground.

  “What is it?” Mike asked.

  “I don’t know.” Rix puffed beside him. “Brux sent me to get you when you didn’t respond to the alarm.”

  The crowd of men around the communications room made way for him as he ran up.

  Brux was alone in the room watching the screens. Joe took a position next to him. Several of the other sector leaders crowded into the room.

  “What is it?” Mike asked.

  Brux pointed to the radar screen. A tiny blip showed in the green.

  “A visitor?” Mike asked.

  “Yep,” Brux said.

  “I don’t get this,” Joe said. “There’s supposed to be vast safeguards so that no one can enter this planet’s space.”

  “Another surprise inspection?” Brux asked.

  Mike shrugged.

  Brux’s fingers ran rapidly over the black buttons. Mike looked at the view screen. The stars blurred for an instant, then a ship appeared, grew larger. Brux touched a
set of buttons and the picture cleared.

  The picture riveted all of their attention. It was now clear that it was a battle cruiser. There was no mistaking one. Their design was unique in the galaxy.

  “What the hell do they want here?” Joe asked.

  Mike shook his head. “We aren’t scheduled for a visit from anybody for a least another week. Can you raise them on the speaker, Brux?”

  Brux worked the console. After five minutes he shook his head, “No luck.”

  “Can you show the exterior of their bridge?” Mike asked.

  “I’ll try,” Brux said.

  A few moments later they were looking at the raised nodule at the front of the ship. Mike knew the area inside the bridge probably dwarfed their main storage area, and the bridge was the smallest part of a battle cruiser.

  “Look at that,” Brux said. With one hand he pointed, with the other he ran his hand over a few buttons. Now they saw what he pointed to. The name of the ship was emblazoned on the hull above the portals.

  Brux gasped. It was the Star Crusher, one of only five Atlas class battle cruisers. It was the most modern in the galaxy, reputed to carry enough fire power to incinerate half a planet from hundreds of thousands of miles in space. Or pinpoint a farl on the top of a mountain and kill it with a surgical kiss. But more, the Star Crusher was the flag ship of the government’s fleet. The commander, as everyone in this part of the galaxy knew, was Mulk’s grandson, Pav, heir to a fortune in his own right.

  Mike chuckled. “I know how to handle this. How long before they land?”

  Brux checked the radar. “Maybe an hour and a half.”

  “Are you sure they’re stopping?” Brux asked.

  Mike said, “At this point I’m not sure I care.”

  Brux gave him a quizzical look.

  “Don’t even try to call them again. Let them call us. Let’s go outside. I need to talk to everybody. Brux, you stay here in case they try to call. I suspect they have to talk to us to get final landing coordinates.”

  Brux nodded then asked “What are you going to do?”

  “You’ll see.”