“Mama's gonna be cross with you!” A bead of sweat dripped from the end of the little man's bulbous nose.
“What?”
“Mama. She gonna be cross!” He stared cross-eyed at the gun.
“Shut the fuck up!” I suggested. He shut up. I stood holding a gun to his head and tried to work out what to do next. My instinct said to get out fast, but I couldn't manage both Rilk and Bex. Take one, come back for the other and hope they'd still be alive when I got back? I didn't fancy the chances. Besides who would I leave?
“Can I help?” The quiet voice made my heart jump. Ariadne!
“You're just in time,” I replied. “We're leaving. Can you drag the girl?”
“I'll try. What happened to her?”
“Drugged I think.”
“That makes sense,” Ariadne replied calmly. “It would make it easier to harvest their organs.”
“What?” My eyes flickered towards her,
“Then they keep the muscles to eat and recycle the rest. Did you want him to stay still?” She pointed. I whipped round to see the barman creeping away.
“Get back here you little...”
“MAMA!” He yelled at the top of his voice and threw himself back over the bar. Instinctively I raised the gun and pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot momentarily overcame the music as the bullet ricocheted off the bar, missing the barman's disappearing feet and blasting a hole in a control panel on the wall beyond. At once the music blared louder while the holograms began to speed up giving the whole scene a nightmarish quality. At the far end of the bar a double size door slammed open with a bang.
“Oh dear,” said Ariadne softly. “Now we're in trouble.”
From the steaming gloom within stepped a huge woman. With her pink plaid dress and pigtails in ribbons she would have been the perfect hostess, except for the fact that she was built like a tank. Compared to me she was half as tall again and twice as wide. She'd have been a formidable figure in a wrestling ring, in the bar she looked like a giant.
“Mama!” shouted the little barman as he threw himself towards her.
“Timmy!” she cried before catching him in her girder like arms and clasping him to her expansive bosom.
“The nasty man tried to hurt me mama,” said the little man, his voice muffled. “What!” thundered his Amazonian mother. “Nobody threatens my boys!” Lowering her huge bulk, she reached under the bar and reappeared holding a double-barrelled shotgun.
“Down!” I shouted throwing myself to the floor as the boom of the gun echoed round the room and I felt the blast pass harmlessly over my head. Instinctively I fired back, my shots missing wildly but bringing down part of the roof, forcing our assailants to take cover behind the bar.
“Go!” I shouted, grabbing Rilk by the collar and backing away, dragging him after me as I tried desperately to keep the gun levelled on the far end of the bar. The music jumped in volume again, banjos and fiddles almost drowning out the second blast of the shotgun, which missed us but shredded a table to our left. To add to the confusion the majority of the holograms formed themselves into a line and started to dance in unison, a sped-up synchronisation of clapping hands and stamping feet.
“BOYS! MAMA NEEDS YOU!” The vast woman's strangulated howl cut through the music. I watched as first one, then two then a whole horde of little men appeared from the shadowy doorway at the end of the bar. They looked to be perfect copies of the original barman, but varied in size, the smallest being only about knee high.
“What the fuck?” I couldn't help but ask.
“She grows them in vats,” Ariadne explained. “The biggest one was born naturally, but she couldn't have any more once her husband was eaten by a Voompah.”
“A Voompah?”
“It's a large scaly beast that lives in the sandy desert regions of the asteroids.”
“Did he mistake it for his wife?”
“No, a hill.”
“They're that big?”
“About the size of a smallish battle cruiser. We need to find some cover.”
Ariadne grabbed hold of Bex and started to drag her over behind a large bank of video games. At the far end of the bar the midget barmen had managed to arm themselves with a range of weapons, mostly taken from the wall displays in the bar. I could see golf clubs and baseball bats, along with a variety of archaic weapons I didn't recognise. Raising the pistol, I fired three quick shots to keep their heads down and dragged Rilk over behind the games units. I just made it before a shotgun blast made the whole bank of machines shake.
“Do you have a plan?” asked Ariadne.
“Not yet.” I replied, rolling on the ground to squeeze off a shot before ducking back into cover. “I am working on it though.” A twang behind us was followed moments later by an arrow embedding itself in the wall beyond our heads. Ariadne stood and pulled it out of the wall.
“Cherokee Indian, Planet Earth, approximately 300 years old.” A shotgun blast pulverised the patch of wall close to her head.
“Get down!” I shouted, pulling her back into cover. She looked up from examining the feathers.
“It's ok!” she said. “It's a fake!” She tossed the arrow away and smiled at me. “How's that plan coming along?”
“Still working on it!” I replied. Taking advantage of a brief lull in the barrage, I lay down and peered round the machines. Beyond the line-dancing holograms the clones looked like they were gathering themselves for a charge. I levelled the gun and squeezed the trigger. Click!
“Fuck!” I said, diving back into cover and ejecting the magazine.
“Everything ok?” asked Ariadne as I knelt and started to go through Rilk's pockets.
“Out of ammo,” I explained. “Hah! I pulled out a full clip and jacked it into the pistol. Just then my comm unit started to buzz.
“Shit,” I said as I pulled it out of my pocket. I tossed it to Ariadne. “Here! Take this!” I sprawled again, trying to get a glimpse of what was happening without getting my head blown off. I felt a tap on my shoulder.
“It's someone called Drd?” She asked. “Says he's a friend.”
“He drives the fucking ship!” I replied. “Tell him to fire the engines and stand by for a quick getaway!”
“He says there's a problem.”
“Tell him to solve his own problems, I've got enough of my own.” I peered around the corner. It looked like a whole tribe of identically moustached barmen were coming to get me.
“Drd says you need to get out there now!”
“Tell him we're coming,” I replied, and pulled the trigger.
Eleven
WITH A THUNDERING CRASH the entire end of the bar exploded in a ball of dust and flame.
“What was that?” Ariadne asked.
“New clip must be incendiaries,” I shouted. “Let's go!” Crouching low I dragged Rilk by the collar across the door. Glancing up I could see dazed looking shapes wandering around in the smoke. Behind me was the entrance, I slammed my hand on the exit button, but the doors remained firmly closed.
“Fuck!” I yelled and raised the gun to blow our way out.
“Wait!” Ariadne pushed in front of me and typed a series of codes into the keypad. The door slid open.
“Thanks,” I said as I stumbled outside, Rilk's legs bumping over the airlock. Ariadne stopped. She had Bex slung incongruously over her shoulder, the load looking far too heavy for Ariadne's slight frame.
“Oh dear!” She was staring at something behind me.
“What?” I turned and felt my jaw drop as I tried to comprehend the spectacle before me.
Where the ship had been was now a swirling tower of dust. Within it, I caught terrifying glimpses of spines and scales, teeth and claws but on an unimaginable scale. Then I saw a shape I recognised, the streamlined shape of the Fading Sun seemingly locked in a titanic struggle with the leviathan.
“What the hell is that?” I shouted.
“A Voompah,” replied Ariadne, “and it doesn't look ha
ppy!”
“Screw it's finer feelings,” I yelled. “That thing's trying to eat my ship!”
Laying Rilk down, I strode towards the melee of dust, gun outstretched, trying to get a clear shot.
“Hey you stupid monster!” I shouted. “Get the hell away from my ship!”
“What are you doing?” Ariadne asked in her calm voice.
“I'm going to blow its head off!” I explained.
“It won't work,” she said. “You won't even scratch it.”
“You got any better ideas?” I asked, gun wavering as I tried to pick out a target.
“Well, a Voompah is extremely sensitive to mid to high frequency sounds.”
“What do you suggest? See if it comes when you whistle?”
“No,” she said with that quirky half smile. “I think I'll sing to it.”
“You're kidding, right?”
“No,” she replied. “Now put that gun down before you do even more damage.”
I watched in amazement as she lowered Bex to the ground next to Rilk and walked calmly out towards the vortex of dust. Then she stopped, lifted her head and opened her mouth. The sound that spilled out was one of the strangest sounds I had ever heard. There were no distinguishable words, just an ululating sound that grew in strength until it began to pierce the rumbling noise of the broiling dust. At first nothing happened but then I realised that there were phrases within the song that we're starting to repeat and as they did so the monster was changing its movement. Gradually it seemed less and less interested in the space ship that spun just out of its reach. Ariadne's voice seemed to grow louder, resonating with the landscape, simplifying to a strange and haunting beauty that echoed the rocks and craters around us. Now the beast was moving more slowly the dust started to settle and we could see it more clearly, a vast lizard whose spiny back reached as high as the dome. Its leathery skin was ochre and black, its tail was twice the length of the Fading Sun, its mighty claws bigger than a land cruiser. Finally, it stood, magnificent and vast, towering over Ariadne's slight figure. The robot girl's song was softer now, a lullaby for a monster. I watched in amazement as the beast gradually lowered its head until its jaw rested on the ground and Ariadne reached out a hand to give it a gentle caress. Then, with a snort that blew up a cloud of dust, it stood, backed off and then turned and stamped its way out of the crater into the desert.
“That was amazing!” I said. “How did you learn to do that?”
“Oh, I've never done it before,” she said.
“What?”
“Well, the theory was sound.”
I stared at her as the Fading Sun touched down a short distance away and then shook my head.
“Come on,” I said. “Let’s get these two aboard and then get the hell away from crazy place!”
WE WERE ABOUT AN HOUR out when Rilk stumbled out of his cabin, leaned his head against the wall and groaned.
“What the fuck did I drink?” He asked in a pained voice.
“One bottle of beer,” I replied. “You must be getting old!”
“One!” He looked up, bloodshot eyes blinking. “Shoot me now!”
“You were drugged,” I explained. “It all got a little crazy.”
“Drugged?” he retorted, before clutching his head. “Ow!”
Rilk dragged himself away from the wall and collapsed into a chair. “I wasn't joking,” he said. “Either shoot me or get me some painkillers, and then you better tell me all about it.”
I ruffled my hand through his hair as I walked past and got a weak smile in response. The medi-kit was kept in the starboard cabin just aft of the bridge, opposite the galley. As I rooted through the cupboards, I could hear Ariadne and Drd arguing in Kwa. What had started as a violent confrontation over Ariadne's plans to reprogram the NavCom seemed to have settled into a more or less constructive discussion. Drd was still trying to hide his enthusiasm for Ariadne's planned improvements and I shook my head in silent amusement at the little Kwa and the robot girl argued the relative merits of 3D hologramatic navigation charts. Drd was as stubborn as you can get when it came to the Fading Sun but I reckoned that in Ariadne he had met his match.
I took the painkillers, grabbed a bottle of water from the galley and stepped back through into the day cabin. Rilk had been joined by Bex who just lay spread eagled face-down on the couch, one arm and one leg trailing on the floor.
“Hey Bex,” I said with mock enthusiasm. She mumbled something in reply, of which only the word 'fuck' was audible.
I gave Rilk his pain killers and then managed to get Bex to surface long enough to swallow some as well. She lay back down but kept one eye open as I began to tell my story.
“Wait! You took my gun?” interrupted Rilk at one point.
“Good fucking job he did!” Bex raised her head for a moment. “Bozo!” she added before collapsing once again.
After I finished Rilk got up and put his arm round me.
“Thanks.” he said with a squeeze.
“Hey!” Bex had pushed herself up to lean against the couch back. “Robot girl?”
“Yes,” I said. “She's cool.”
“Well she better not get any fucking ideas!”
“What do you mean?” Rilk asked.
“Just that I'm the girl on this ship and you can tell her that no fucking robot's taking my place!”
“You can tell her yourself,” I said. “Here she is.”
Twelve
“I WANT A WORD WITH you!” Bex stood with her hands on her hips and a sneer on her face.
“It's alright,” Ariadne replied in her calm voice. “You don't have to thank me.”
“What?” Bex was momentarily thrown off course.
“For saving your life.”
“Huh?”
“I made a deal with Will: I would help if he took me with him. You were in danger and I could help. So, I did.”
“Oh,” said Bex. “Right.”
“Have you found anything?” I asked, taking advantage of the unexpected silence.
“Yes,” Ariadne replied. “Drd and I have managed to reprogram the NavCom with the information I brought with me, which means we can now do this.”
She placed a remote viewer in the centre of the cabin table and tapped a button. Immediately the space above the table blossomed into a hologram of the Kwa system.
“Here you can see the three stars: Kwa Alpha, Kwa Beta and Kwa Gamma, and around them the 21 known planets of the Kwa system.”
“Wait a minute,” interrupted Rilk. “Known planets? All the planets were discovered over a century ago.”
“So people thought,” Ariadne replied, “but there is one part of the system that remained unexplored.”
“The dust!” I felt I was starting to understand.
“Blah, blah, fucking blah!” Bex waved her arm through the hologram, causing a momentary swirl in the fabric of the model. “I did enough fucking astronomy at school!”
“You went to school?” Rilk teased.
“Shut up asshole!” Bex spat. “I'm just saying get to the point.”
“There's a planet in the dust.” I said quietly.
“What?” Rilk frowned. “How?”
“The dust cloud is hollow,” Ariadne explained. “Watch!”
She reached out and again tapped the remote. The hologram expanded until only the dust cloud filled the space above the table. As I watched it rotated and then expanded again and suddenly we were all inside the dust, and hanging in the centre was a blue planet, sparkling like the pearl in an oyster.
“The coordinates?” I asked.
“The same as you found on Zestrade,” Ariadne confirmed.
We sat for a moment and contemplated that tiny speck of matter in the huge vastness of space.
“So that's it then?” Rilk's voice was uncharacteristically quiet. “The legendary Kwa homeworld?”
“So my mistress thought,” confirmed Ariadne.
“And that's where the fucking asshole is?” Bex ask
ed.
“Which fucking asshole?” I asked.
“The fucker who killed Carl of course.”
“Whoa!” I said, spreading out my hands. “Slow down a little. We're not on some crazy revenge mission here.”
“Fucker killed Carl, I gotta kill him. That's how it goes where I'm from, just saying!”
“Yes but...”
“I think she's got a point,” Rilk interrupted.
“What?”
“Think about it.” He held up his hand and started ticking points off on his fingers. “One, whoever this guy is, he's uniting the Kwa and the Rakeesh, Two, he's setting them on some sort of jihad to wipe out humans and three, no-one else is going to do anything.”
“Maybe if we go back and report everything...”
“You know that won't work!” Rilk said contemptuously. “No one would believe us and even if they did they wouldn't do anything. A few spacers wiped out on an asteroid, what do they care?”
I had no answer to that, I knew he was right. I thought for a moment.
“I want to know what Drd thinks.” I said.
“Phrt drrf arrggttt!” the Kwa whistled over the comm.
“Really?” I replied. A chorus of whistles and chirps came back.
“What's he say?” asked Rilk.
“Well,” I replied. “Kill the fucker is the closest translation.”
“Too right!” Bex pumped her fist in delight.
“What did he actually say?” asked Rilk.
“He said that the idea of the Kwa and the Rakeesh joining forces terrifies him. He called it an abomination. Then he said that the human leading them had to be stopped. Called it a saced duty!”
“That’s it then,” said Rilk. “We have our mission.”
I shook my head. “I don't know,” I said. “There's only five of us.”
“Then we'll have to be sneaky,” Rilk replied.
“I suppose there's one thing in our favour,” I pointed out.
Thus Falls the Shadow Page 6