Dawn of Hope- Exodus

by Dobrin Kostadinov

  On my way up through the corridors and the halls I once again saw the throng of people who looked rather scared. Fear was plain in their eyes, for they still did not know what had caused all the commotion outside. They were like a herd of sheep shoved in the corner, but I was not judging them, I knew how it felt to be part of the crowd. Yet, now, thanks to Milev, I was much more confident. I finally reached the double door that granted access to the bridge, I pressed the button and this time got in uninterrupted. The familiar faces from the day before had gathered at the center of the hall and only the crew of Iris 1 was missing. Zanev was standing at one side, talking over his radio–he was concerned about the condition of his fellow crewman. The other four, Alice, Harry, Jean-Pierre and of course Milev were waiting for him at the table. There were no smiles across their lips, not a shred of hope was visible anywhere on their faces. They just waited for the scientist to finish his conversation.

  ‘He’s all right, isn’t he? It’s just his suit that has been damaged, that was why he was immobilized, good. I want the six of you up here with us as soon as possible,’ he said and ended the call. Now he could breathe a sigh of relief along with everyone present, me included. He had obviously talked to one of the research team members and that meeting was incomplete without its protagonists. I, for one, was burning with impatience to find out what had happened and like never before I ventured to ask for what I wanted to know since apparently no one was going to serve me any information on a silver platter.

  ‘What happened, was the bomb-dropping a success?’ I directed the question at the entire group. They looked at me and then turned their looks away without saying a word.

  ‘We might have as well dropped it on us, at least we would have achieved something,’ Zanev spoke quietly as he stood close to the wall nearest to me, not giving me even a single glance.

  Only the Balkan who had, on receiving the news, come up here shortly before me kept looking at me and when our gazes met again he just shook his head, thus telling me everything had fallen apart. I could hardly believe that, I had to drop into the nearest chair and consider the situation. Everyone was silent. Could it be really true? Were we about to lose the war despite the initial victory in the first battle and was there going to be a second one where we could win at all? I asked myself many such questions while we were waiting for the others to come and in less than an hour they showed up at the door.

  Five robots and a tall man with bruises on his face, limping on his left leg, lead the group. He was standing with his chin up and emanated more courage and self-confidence even from Milev himself. Zanev greeted him with a broad smile and after everyone had taken a seat at the table he went up to him and gave him a manly hug.

  ‘I thought I was never going to see you again, comrade!’

  ‘So did I!’ Thomas answered with a deep breath.

  ‘Tell me what happened, how did you manage to survive? You have been missing for two days,’ Zanev went on.

  ‘I saw things I wish no one to see. I was taken away into the ocean and it is a genuine whirlpool there. I had to fight with one too many of the grayish-white which damaged my communications, but when the first ship entered the planet’s atmosphere, it diverted their attention and I managed to get away. I just want to tell you that since you failed to eliminate them a while back, we would hardly overpower their army.’ That and a few more sentences comprised his tale of how he stayed alive alone in the woods for a couple of days. His words frightened us, he had obviously seen the very worst those creatures were capable of.

  ‘We still haven’t armed the soldiers with the electric shotguns which do miracles against them. I only hope that our plan of using them against the enemy will work,’ Zanev inserted.

  ‘You seem not to have seen all that those critters could show. You call them grayish-white, but the truth is that they have an army of purely black mates that Mila and I stumbled upon right before I went missing and it is almost unbeatable.’ He said something none of us knew until that instant. ‘They are the guardians of the mountain–it is the source of their power.’

  ‘Minutes ago we tried to raze it to the ground, but we failed,’ Milev joined the conversation, announcing the bad news.

  ‘It is incredibly solid, it can’t be demolished from outside and now we’ll suffer their true wrath. Zanev, what is the situation, is there any activity around the mountain?’ Thomas started giving orders just moments after his arrival.

  ‘There is an increased presence at that very spot, I think they’re gathering their forces again,’ he said in a clear and concise manner based on the data he had at his disposal so far.

  ‘If you still don’t know my name, I’m Thomas Ivanov, a Colonel from the Russian army and from this point on I’m taking the command.’ No one in the room dared contradict him, even Milev. Perhaps the Balkan knew who the Russian was long before he took up the entire affair with the exodus. But right now that did not matter because everyone was listening to him, waiting to hear his orders. I hoped the change in command was for the better.

  ‘You, yes, the one that’s standing at the sidelines. Why are you here?’ he turned to me absolutely unexpectedly, so I did not even know how to respond.

  ‘I’m here to film,’ I uttered timidly, without any circumlocutions and then he looked away uninterested.

  ‘You two, introduce yourselves!’ he turned to the man and woman standing opposite him who he seemed to be seeing for the first time.

  ‘My name is Harry Rogers, this is my girlfriend Alice Springer. We’re part of Lieutenant Milev’s team who’s in charge of the exodus spaceships,’ the young man said.

  ‘These machines were left in the hands of good teams and I don’t know who you are, what has happened, explain to me immediately,’ surprised and slightly tense Ivanov was still unaware of the extreme situation the Earth was overcome by.

  ‘Everything is lost. Right now chaos and fire are reigning on our planet. It’s a long story, but I can assure you we’ve made the best decision that we could,’ Milev piped up, leaving the Colonel aghast at the news. He was fumbling for the right words to open a dialogue and ask the others in the room what they knew. His fellow crewmen from Iris 1 along with Zanev were standing with their heads bowed. ‘If we don’t win this war, we’re lost. We can’t go back and we can’t float in space with no aim whatsoever as wherever we go we’re quite likely to die of starvation,’ the Bulgarian Officer said, admitting the truth. Thomas’s stare was fixed on a point in space and you could see the acrimony filling his eyes. The continuation of their mission seemed completely superfluous under the circumstances. But he did not show any feeling, nor did he utter a word in the minutes of silence that followed which I also recorded.

  ‘People, their army is massive, I received the frames from the pilotless plane which is still hovering over the place.’ Dimitar played a recording on the video walls that were portraying the bomb going off somewhere at the colossus’ mid-level, exterminating every living thing in the vicinity, yet the colossus remained intact. Right after the fire and the smoke died down the Vacari started regrouping and marched out of the ocean towards the mountain. And for real, looking from above, you could see that there were black ones among their ranks.

  ‘Gentlemen, the war has begun! I want to know what else we have at our disposal apart from the machines, the launchers and the soldiers outside,’ Thomas requested more information about the condition of the base’s armor inventory.

  ‘We have about a hundred highly effective electric shotguns which kill them on the spot, the élite NATO 138 Infantry Division, commanded personally by me, as well as a group of mobilized men entrusted with the task to fill in the places of those we have lost–they’re getting ready in one of the holds. All our machines and drones are out along with our automated defense systems that you already encountered,’ the Balkan responded thoroughly.

  ‘Let’s hope that’s enough. I want you to double the soldiers on watch at the rocks around us. I suppose they will
use these places as points of attack as well. Spread all the heavy equipment, the excavators and the trucks around the edges of the plateau. I want to see snipers positioned on all the terraces. They will delay the assault as the Vacari advance. I heard that the fence and the trench are connected to the onboard electrical grid, I want everything to be in place as soon as possible. Dear exoskeleton colleagues, you will form the second defense line behind the tanks and the offense drones, you will take out the wounded creatures and those that break the first line. The soldiers behind you will be armed with the new rifles which I hope will put up enough resistance. You will also provide assistance wherever you’re needed and will guard the machines–their firepower is of paramount importance.’ Thomas instantly allocated the tasks and he made it clear that he expected every order to be obeyed immediately; his plan seemed really solid. ‘My suit is being repaired currently and if I’m lucky enough I’ll enter into combat in it, but otherwise I won’t be of much use to anyone in this condition. I have lacerations in the leg and my movement is impeded.’

  ‘You’d better stay here and observe from above, we need someone to give us directions, otherwise we’ll be too chaotic on the field,’ one of his five mates advised. I could not tell who he was since they all looked so alike in those combat suits.

  ‘That’s true, if you can really help us control the situation from here, you’d better do it. But leave the command of the third defense line to me – it is composed of my people, of the infantry units. They have put their trust in me and I’ll fight right by their side,’ Milev suggested.

  ‘All right, I think this will work out fine. I will need Zanev, you and Jean-Pierre here with me to help me with the decision-making.’ The Colonel tried to organize the overly tense situation. ‘And one more thing before I forget. I don’t see anyone carrying a flag. No one should go into battle without having a flag that waves behind their back. I want the two of you to pick the colors and think of the symbol of our flags.’ These last words were directed at Alice and Harry although they knew nothing about designing flags and coats of arms. ‘One should be placed at the very top of the ship to unfurl and wave over all of us so that everyone can see it; the other one must be carried by a color-bearer, may he be a soldier from the third line and may he also shout as loud as he can. May he chant and encourage the boys because in the end he might be the only one left with them alone against our nemesis.’ He assigned the two love birds with a challenge that both of them accepted willingly and even welcomed with smiles. Was Thomas the right man for us to pin our hopes on and to entrust with our salvation and with our belief that he would help us emerge from that unmerciful war victorious? Although at first I deemed the idea about the colors meaningless, later on I came to realize it was not. That was probably the very thing we needed, besides, who was I to judge one like him? He was quite obviously a lot more adept at the art of war than any of the people standing on that bridge.

  ‘I wish the best of luck to all of you, I expect self-sacrifice and heroism not only of you but also of the people around you because without them this war will be a lost cause.’ These were his final words after which the conference was closed and we all broke up to go do our due share. I headed down towards the level-one deck as I wished to see how the entire organization was rendered. But Milev saw me as I was crossing the main corridor and called me.

  ‘Boy, I know that your job is to make video recordings, but they might need your aid here. Provisions, ammunitions–there are many things that need to be taken out of the holds. If your brothers need your help, don’t disappoint them. I’m proud of you!’ he said and patted me on the shoulder, then he walked away in another direction, but what he said to me was absolutely unexpected. That man certainly knew how to make me feel special. He did not treat everyone else the same way–he yelled at some, others he threatened, but to me he was nice. He was perhaps the most psychologically skilled person on the ship and he adopted personal approach to every individual so he could get the results he intended. But that did not matter to me because I was prepared to die for him. I could give my life away if I had to because I was indebted to him for life . . .

  They were really in need of a helping hand down there. The soldiers were running around preparing everything, the civilian men onboard lent their assistance in a variety of ways. The crucial times made out of us a really tight-knit lot and we could finally feel united, we were comrades in arms. Without wasting a minute I jogged to the nearest armory hold, I teamed up with one of the men there and we started loading wooden trunks with ammunition belts that we had to put in the emplacements. There was a lot of cargo and the distance between the two spots was greater than a thousand and thirty feet so we used a truck which we unloaded at the target destination. It was a hard and draining labor that took us a few hours. During our last trip the buzzing became a trifle louder and the megaphones stationed outside turned on and a voice that resembled a little bit too much that of the Colonel came through.

  ‘Dear mates, fighters of the lost world, a monstrous battle is heading our way. Everyone has to take their assigned place. Remember that should you retreat, that will mean death not only for you but also for those around you. Spare no bullets, rockets or yourselves because the Vacari will surely not spare you! It is either them or us!’ Those words rent the air through the entire surrounding land and sent chills down my spine. I hoped this was not our final hour as living beings . . .

  We unloaded the last pieces of the cargo in no time and I ran for my gun–I was doubtful it would be of any help, but somehow I felt more secure having it on me. The cameras were on. The helmet and vest were in place. I marched ahead, filled with a bit of fear, yet ready to serve the soldiers who did not make me distrust their strength and grandeur even for a second. The front line was occupied by tanks and drones, the fence was electrified–every now and then it would send out sparks and the trench was constantly filled with water since the liquid got absorbed by the soil quickly. All of that was executed by the five researchers and the hundred men entrusted with the onerous task to carry the electric shotguns. They formed the first and the second fortification lines and the third one was composed of the 138 Infantry Division and the mobilized men who were just arranging themselves into a row. Milev was making circles around the three lines infecting every person with his valor in a loud and robust voice; I was some twenty feet away, approaching them from behind.

  ‘Boys, your blood will be spilt on this earth and it will soak into it, your bones will sink deep into it, but your deeds will remain for all time. Stay united, stand tall and show every living thing here what it means to be a man and a soldier on our wretched planet. Are you all with me?’ their commander hollered at the top of his voice.

  ‘Hurray!’ everyone shouted in unison, deafening the entire plateau and the area around it; the human echo lasted for a full minute. When the sound faded away, I walked through their ranks so that the officer could notice I was there; he was more than happy to see me, it was as if we met for the first time.

  ‘How are you feeling, boy?’ he asked me with a mouth pulled into a smile that seemed to convey he knew he was about to perish and that made him happy. I could not understand that, but I supposed that was precisely what he wished–to be first among his men and to make an example of himself by showing them what true self-sacrifice was.

  ‘I’m feeling great, Sir!’ I gave him an answer full of positivity despite my exhaustion and my fear. I wanted to behave like the man that he was and that he was teaching his subordinates to be.

  ‘I want you to film what is to come from this exact spot, not a step backward or forward, am I clear?’

  ‘Yes, Sir,’ I answered clearly and concisely again.

  ‘You do your job, leave the defending part to us. If the need arises, shoot, but be careful not to put a bullet in one of our comrades,’ he cautioned me and went back to standing in front of his rows of soldiers. I simply nodded in agreement. My heart started beating faster, cold sweat broke
out on my forehead. I was so scared at that point that I would not stop repeating those words to myself, it was already too late, I could not take a step back. ´Extension!´ the Eastern European hollered at his infantry and they broke away to form a half-moon about a thousand feet long and about fifty feet wide. The shape extended almost from one end of the front line to the other which bordered on the forest.

  Out of a sudden a moderate chilly wind came from the direction we were defending. The air caressed my armor and lifted up the trampled grass at my feet. It was a delightful refreshment that foreshadowed the arrival of a new portion of dark thunderclouds. The trees began to sway, the buzzing grew louder and we heard at the distance bestial howls that tore our fragile souls apart. But then, out of the blue, we heard an unexpected roar coming from a human. It turned out to be Harry, dressed in a uniform. He would not stop screaming his head off and waving the beautiful colors around. It had a black background studded with stars and the image of our home planet took central stage in the middle with an emblem of a proud lion with thick voluminous mane right under it. The same, yet much larger piece of cloth rose from the top of the ship up into the sky. Rogers really touched all of us deeply. Everyone turned to look at him and we barely managed to choke our tears back as he kept on screaming.

  ‘Go, champions, go! Crush them flat!’

  Then, without wasting a second of our precious time, we automatically opened fire on them from the emplacements and the launchers, we looked away and saw the coming wave of Vacari flee up the slope. The first ones that came invading were killed by the potent shells and torn apart by the high-caliber machine guns. Yet there were so many of them that they stampeded one another just to get to us. We, the ones that made up that third line, began chanting loudly anew along with Harry and we even managed to outcry the grayish-white. I felt a sudden surge of bravery and valor rushing into my veins and all of us locked our weapons on our targets without taking a step forward or backward in response to the horrendous view, but instead started shooting. A shower of sparkly lead pieces enhanced by the friction with air was ejected at the creatures–their bodies fell down one after the other. But despite our attack, their advance was hardly hindered. When they eventually got to the fence, their front rank fell straight into the electrified fresh water of the trench and dissolved in an instant. Screams came gurgling out of the moat dissipated into bubbles and smoke, for when the active metals in their bodies came into contact with the water they released warmth and energy. Hundreds of them fell down slayed before they had managed to do a thing. The demons started hurling trees and stones in the trench until they filled it up. The fence was still standing firm in its place and each one of those creatures that ventured to climb it was vaporized and turned into a pile of white ash. We took out thousands of them and their remains simply soaked into the soil. The earth cleaned itself, paving the way for the assault of the next wave. Suddenly the black Vacari began to emerge out of their rear lines. They were comparatively few in contrast with their fellow whitish brethren, but tremendously hard to kill. The dark enemy was impervious to our bullets and the electric shotguns were no good against it. Only the missiles and the tank projectiles eliminated the transgressors, but they were scarce and recharged slowly unlike the critters that were coming in flocks. They brought the fence down and invaded our territory. The five brave hearts standing in the front line entered into a direct skirmish. They turned and bent in all directions in order to avoid the strikes of the solid limbs and the bites of our adversaries. Team work and the assistance of a few drones that looked like gigantic steel predators managed to keep some of them at the front line while the electric shotguns and the third line maintained the fire. I filmed those formidable war frames as a witness while the innumerable army of the Vacari got closer and closer to me by the inch. That was an intimately familiar sight I had seen the first day I came here, the only difference being that now I was playing a different role in the game. The enemy numbers smashed a few of our tanks and destroyed some of our automated defense systems. Milev popped up out of the blue and walked past me. I heard him give orders over the radio.