Cavalry

by Thorby Rudbek

  “Of course!” Abner Sharif put his hands on his tight black curls, making a show of holding his head as if it might explode. “I know we must continue to look after Earth, but there’s a whole ’nother world out there! Remember how you felt when your friend or family member – or both – couldn’t be found?” He looked around at the others. “I’ll be going to Swindon with Hank Saxon and a bunch of others to give them some help.” Here he looked at Konig, realising that this decision had not been ratified by the assembly. “Maybe, once their immediate needs are met, we can get some EDEM production going there in the Honda plant they have, then we’ll have more means to get around, to offer help. What I’m trying to say is, we would all be dead or Narlav slaves by now, if it weren’t for these two. Right now I’m putting my aluminum foil head-covering aside so I can see this; I don’t care what weird things Karen does to my mind!”

  Lots of chuckles and some laughter accompanied this last comment.

  “Thanks, Abner,” Kirrina sighed, grateful for the nonsense he had spouted to dispel the miasma of illogical fears which seemed inevitable when those without extreme mental powers were faced by the contrast between their limited world and the other, incomprehensible one from which they were genetically excluded. “Here goes.”

  Beckie looked at her personal saviour as the blue eyes started to grey over. She got up as soon as those eyes were out of focus, making her way silently and surreptitiously over to take up a vacant spot behind Karen.

  The others were all looking at the matt black surface expectantly; they did not notice her movement either.

  The view was initially similar to that perceived during travel in Grey Space. Then, faintly a barren mountainside came into a hazy kind of focus. Beckie placed one hand on Kirrina’s neck; the picture wavered and then came back so clearly that many gasped.

  Like a visual from a 3D movie, the image showed the depths of the clouds of noxious vapours below, the other side of the valley, then the cave with Latt’s family in it. Silence was absolute as the birth of the doomed baby was seen through the viewpoint of his memory. Further views came, expanding somehow so that the viewers felt that they were inside Rhaal’s ruined landscape, then they saw Narlav facilities as Latt got captured and put to work by the Controllers, even scenes within the Warrnam when Latt worked there – the one which discovered Earth, started the Rhaal forces on their path to world dominion – and then disaster – for all.

  The images blurred, sparkled and dispersed, almost as if a Star Drive were starting up in that subterranean chamber. Kirrina gasped as her eyes saw the others again; her breaths came rapidly and her forehead was covered with a sheen of perspiration.

  “I’ll stay here, get help organised for Earth.” Walt’s eyes seemed strained, as if he had found the 3D hard to view. He looked at Karen, moved by the huge effort she had made to make her point. “Take your squadron. We’ll sort out Nine with Thirteen and Sixteen. We can get local aircraft back into action soon; now the Mecuba is shut down, the cold should begin fading.”

  Karen was leaning against Richard, her breathing still laboured. Beckie was still close behind her, looking surprised at the intensity she had helped generate – of course, her emotions, inevitably included in the experience, had aided a great deal in the delivery of the message.

  “No.” Latt stood abruptly. He was clearly angry. “No!”

  Richard watched Judy getting up beside her fiancé, reaching for his arm and then hesitating; Fletcher could see that she was worried that this personal review had brought the pain her own extra-terrestrial was suffering on behalf of his people to a new intensity and that she wished she could comfort him somehow.

  “Latt is right.” Kirrina shuddered and then took a deep, long breath, still recovering from the intense effort associated with her personal, immersive projection. “We’ll go in Citadel, but we’ll go alone!”

  “That’s what I wanted to say.” Jusstinalss shook his head, chagrined that some might have thought he was suggesting – or demanding – that more should go. “I am sure there won’t be any fighters left back home for us to face; every warrior would have come to help take the prize planet; there would be no honour in remaining behind. One ship should be all we need to travel there; once there we can divide up to search more quickly. You have a whole world to save here; back home, I have to admit that I know there will be very few still left alive.”

  “We can send another later, if when you come back you tell us there is more to do there.” Walt nodded, satisfied.

  The meeting carried on, details of activities to be performed during the absence of the prime vessel were prearranged and Brad, who had been committed to the trip to Rhaal despite Tracy’s decision not to leave Earth, found himself in charge of PC Eight’s mission to England instead. “You’ll come to England with me?”

  “That I can handle!” she responded, relieved that her husband would not be disappearing into the nothingness which she had only seen under simulation during her training to ‘captain’ the Patrol Craft. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to see Harley Street!”

  ***

  Grey Space.

  Surprisingly, everyone slept, though not all did so immediately.

  Soon after the stars had slipped sideways and vanished into the void and everyone else had departed to get some rest, Judy had tried to use the excellent scanners on Citadel to analyse the other dimensions rendered on the viewscreens with such apparent ambiguity; outwardly she was not disturbed by the grey chasms, fogbanks and apparent mountains that flowed and formed like lava lamp innards across the ‘un-space’ of this incomprehensible tract of… there really was no meaningful name for it.

  But she soon found the analysis produced frustrations which rivalled any she had ever experienced; nothing the instruments said made any sense – some of it seemed contradictory, and then, when checked again, entirely different results were displayed. She had assumed the imagery was an inaccurate representation, having never seen the view through Transplyous in an older Arshonnan vessel such as the transport ships used during the colonisation phase of the human expansion from Arshonna, or the Warrnam and Pakak now used by the Narlavs. She did not know that this direct view was nominally similar, but would ‘play’ with the mind of anyone trying to stare into it for more than a few seconds until headaches developed, followed by a reduced ability to concentrate if the effort continued, then confusion and eventually disorientation, stupefaction and finally delirium. Ultimately, Grey Space is incompatible with mortality.

  Latt had retired to his assigned crew cabin soon after the transition from ‘normal’ space had occurred; he had watched her start her equipment up, kissed her on the cheek and wished her good luck, knowing that his fiancée would not be harmed by her analysis, sure that his presence would not be needed. She’ll find something that will impress me, I know she will, even though no one else would be able to!

  Judy finally gave up after an hour of increasingly frustrating tinkering with the scanners; when she had gone to her cabin, her departure left the Control Centre finally vacant. As she thought of her destination and fizzed into her own private compartment, she found herself smiling at her own thoughts. If there was a corridor to walk down, I would wander past Latt’s door and be tempted to try the handle. Darn this new-fangled ship!

  ***

  “Five minutes,” Paranak announced in his deep voice, apparently without emotion.

  Kirrina knew better. Her blood brother was apprehensive, disturbed by the idea that he would soon see a failed Narlav world in all its non-glory. Such an admission! His concerns extended to the humans, too; he knew that any left alive would be living witnesses of the callousness of his own kind towards the ‘Shaatak’. He already felt the unfamiliar sensation of shame. This was a feeling that did not sit well in the Narlav psyche.

  Latt and Judy sat behind the three control chairs in specially created seats – Richard knew how important it was, for various differing reasons, that these two should be able to se
e what the captain and his flight crew saw.

  The others in the ‘party’ were in the assembly room. Professor Isaac Hardy was not among them; he had been required to forgo the trip, as his knowledge of the Earth-built Eliminator reactor was needed back on Earth for the flight to England. Terry Stadt had come, feeling such a kinship with Latt that he could not let his friend go through this undoubtedly painful experience without sharing the burden of it with him.

  There were several others who had volunteered or been selected to travel to Rhaal: previously overlooked flyer Violet Wordsworth, gratified to be selected as an additional pilot for the mission – though what exactly she would be flying was unclear – and budding Drive expert Penny-Lee Croft, selected to help with Drive systems which might need to be repaired on that desecrated world. Then there was structural specialist Jane Kellogg, Penny’s friend and Paranak’s close companion too, the equipment whiz Spencer Baldwin and experienced auto mechanic Todd Buchanan. Latt had suggested that they would be able to find some atmospheric craft on his home world that they could repair, if needed, and commandeer, allowing them to search more efficiently.

  “Time.”

  Citadel dropped back into normal space just a few planetary diameters from Rhaal; the stars slipped into place and the weary world was revealed at last.

  Latt’s brilliant blue eyes became hard, his hand in Judy’s tensed up as the reality of the damaged remains of the Arshonnans’ expansion plan was confirmed. As they circled the planet, no one could make out any solid features because of the dense fumes surrounding it.

  “This, my friends, is the first colony world founded by my ancestors, the Arshonnans…. discovered by them almost a thousand years ago!” Kirrina spoke softly, her spirits dampened by the reality. “It then had a temperate climate, lush vegetation and abundant animal life.” After two powered encirclements over the northern hemisphere, Kirrina, piloting the Patrol Craft, adjusted its path to fly over the southern hemisphere. Here, finally, a few mountain peaks could be seen, poking out of the murk. One peak was glowing, a trail of dense ash from it adding to the already comprehensive covering.

  No one responded to her recollection of Arshonnan history, though all were stunned by the destruction which the conquering Narlavs had complacently caused.

  Latt found himself staring at the back of his Narlav colleague’s head, struggling to come to terms with the feelings rising within his chest, feelings that were threatening to tear his reconciliation with one particular ‘controller’ to shreds. His emotions overflowed, causing the platinum blonde pilot to ache, too, as she sought to find a way to soothe his pains and comfort his loss, recalling her own, life-changing pain when she had discovered the destruction of Arshonna.

  Paranak scanned for life, but the volcanic action, dense pollution and electronic noise emitted from damaged equipment and power sources hidden in the thick gases and vapours below made this attempt ineffective. How could anything still be alive… covered by this shroud of poisonous gas?

  Judy rested her head against Latt’s shoulder, her tears falling onto his standard issue flight coveralls. Oh, no! We are too late!

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Smoke… but no mirrors

  “Well, Latt,” Richard looked over his shoulder at the returning ‘citizen’ of Rhaal, after noting the display in front of him was providing no useful information. “Where should we start looking?”

  “I don’t know.” Latt’s voice sounded half-strangled. He cleared his throat and started again. “If we could get closer, I might be able to recognise some of those peaks. There used to be some radio beacons to follow down.”

  “They – or their power networks – must have been overrun by lava. Let’s start with this peak.” Kirrina took them down towards the volcano. “If there’s anyone near that, we had better get them out before it gets any worse.”

  “Compared to this,” Paranak commented quietly, for Kirrina’s ears only. “Craklav is more like that forest in Quebec.”

  “I’m glad I shared that with you.” Karen laid a hand on his leathery shoulder as she found a depiction in her memory of the green leafy peace of the place where she and Richard had replaced the brassy Power Coupling Unit, before leaving Earth, for what they then had both thought would be forever.

  “Look!” Richard pointed into the fumes swirling around the steep slope on the side of the volcano where no lava was flowing – the place which Kirrina had selected for their first touchdown. “There are some lights functioning there.”

  Karen brought the Patrol Craft down onto the platform intermittently visible through the gases. All was still. Occasionally they were gifted with a brief glimpse of the deserted surface and the recessed passageway entrance.

  “Pilot Officer Wordsworth.” Richard found himself uncomfortable with using her given name – Violet – in the context of what amounted, from his perspective, to their military invasion. “Until we’ve checked out this location, I want you to be ready to lift Citadel off if the situation gets hot – either due to some unexpected Narlav warriors, or that volcano! Terry and Todd, I’d like you to stay inside Citadel too, though you should kit up with the rest of us in case we call for you, laser rifles at hand, so you can move rapidly. And be ready to use the ship’s lasers, too.” Richard, as Captain, directed the team members with a decisive manner. “We don’t know if there are any Narlavs left here, but one thing is for certain: if there are, they won’t like us dropping in.”

  Latt smiled at this, though his heart was heavy at the even poorer prospects that he now felt existed for rescuing any humans at all.

  “What is in that gas, Paranak?” Richard turned to his Navigator.

  “Lots of things. Very nasty stuff.” Paranak had already analysed the fumes outside their ship; he saw no point in listing the various nefarious compounds present. “We’ll have to go out with full suits and air supplies.”

  Wordsworth shimmered into the Control Room as Richard and Karen got up. Karen smiled and gestured to Violet to take her seat.

  Richard led the rest of the Control Room contingent into the Assembly Room.

  “I don’t think any of you have used these Arshonnan suits,” Karen commented with casual accuracy to the others. “I’ll explain them to you as we kit up. You’ll find that they are very comfortable but extremely close-fitting; I’ll set the Pool Rooms to provide what you need.”

  “So, are these spacesuits hard to get on?” Stadt mused, picturing ultra-tight jeans.

  “You should bathe more often, Terry!” Penny-Lee laughed. “I guess this means you haven’t used the Pool Rooms at all yet?”

  “I have a nice walk-in shower in my house in New Leeds.” Stadt’s rejoinder was affected, uber-hurt. “Somehow the pipes didn’t freeze… and I carried on enjoying my old-fashioned luxuries.”

  “The Pool rooms are much better; jumping in is my favourite bit!” Jane exclaimed. She still found her close-to-perfect body to be a joy and took every opportunity to revel in it – the contrast with her previously twisted, pain-filled frame was so intense. “Jumping in, fully clothed, then…swimming around, all naked!” She looked at Terry, saw he was listening closely to her, one eyebrow raised, and so she promptly blushed.

  “Knowledge is a powerful thing it seems. But don’t worry, we’ll do this one at a time, Jane!” Richard winked at her. He looked at Terrance Stadt, seeing his amusement mixed with a fair portion of bemusement. “And now, all is ready.” He had just received confirmation from Karen that she had set up what was needed. “Why don’t you go first, Terry? Just walk through that wall, thinking about the location Karen will send you momentarily. Jump in and swim around for a minute or two, then get out. You’ll find you will be dry in seconds, and the spacesuit will be the next thing you feel.”

  Stadt nodded and walked as directed. Karen sent the thought to him and he shimmered out of sight at the end of the Assembly Room.

  “Jane, you take the one at the other end!” Kirrina directed. The ‘Kellogg kid
’ smiled, the blush fading now, and ran, diving through the far wall.

  Does she ever miss? Richard wondered at the idea of diving into a pool before it was even in view.

  If she has, she’s never told me. “Penny-Lee, you take that pool as soon as Jane comes back. Spencer, you go the other way and take your turn when Terry’s finished.”

  And so it went. Soon all except Paranak were kitted up in the marvellous Patrol Craft iteration of the Arshonnan suit; he chose to use a Narlav suit which he put on in the traditional way in his own quarters. When he returned, the others noted his fluffy outfit made him look almost cuddly, though no one dared to say this.

  “I’m impressed,” Terry admitted as he looked around the room. His comment on the snug fit and feeling of full mobility explained these words, though Karen could tell he was also finding the appearance of the females around him to be distracting – the outfits were composed of material which was not as thick as the neoprene used for scuba-diving suits, the texture was more like spandex, the fit was a similar one. The main difference was the colour, they were silvery white – it was a finish that dazzled, even in the mild light of the Patrol Craft interior.

  “It is a pressure suit,” Richard commented. “We try not to imagine what Sports Illustrated would do in a photo shoot.”

  “Watch this!” Penny-Lee ran three steps and did two flips, ending up right in front of Stadt, hands on her hips. “You’ll get used to it!”

  It was Terry’s turn to be embarrassed, though it was obvious that Spencer Baldwin and Todd Buchanan were finding the ‘scenery’ to be impressive too.

  “Now, take your helmets and we’ll practice putting them on.” Karen brought them back to practicalities, aware that her own figure was also very obvious in the fantastically comfortable spacesuit, but feeling much more confident about her curves – she had come a long way from the shy girl that dressed in a rather racy blue outfit to enable a slithering approach to a certain poorly located Scout Craft Thurgidern. “We’ll do this twice for those of you who are having difficulty concentrating – I don’t want anyone to accidentally try breathing that stuff out there!”