by Bowring, S D
Bula disappeared around the woodpile towards the heli.
Tane and Keller glanced at each and nodded with determined looks. They gripped their stun pistols in two hands pointing them downwards, Keller watching how Tane held hers.
They stood up and without a sound ran at the two men. They were ten feet away as Tane lifted her stun pistol and fired at the man on the left. He had let go of Shaw’s leg and was looking at them as though confused. He dropped to the floor in a careless heap. The other man still had hold of Shaw’s leg. “Don’t fire, you’ll get Shaw!” shouted Tane. Keller was already too close to his target to fire. He launched himself through the air, intending to pull the man down. Instead his head collided with the man’s lower torso and he impacted, then glanced off and fell to the floor. The second man staggered back then badly winded, fell backwards. Keller rolled instinctively. The man then tried to stand but Tane fired her stun pistol at him. He collapsed without a sound.
Keller picked up his stun pistol and rounded the woodpile towards the heli. Bula nearly clattered into him. “Are you two okay?” he gasped.
“We’re fine,” Keller said, “Shaw looks bad.”
Whilst Tane tended to the injured Shaw, Keller watched over the two renegades. Bula got into the heli to remove some plas twine from the toolbox. Keller helped Bula tie up the two stunned men who had tried to drag Shaw away. Bula told them he was going to fly into the settlement. There was no argument. Keller and Tane just nodded. Bula then undressed the unconscious pilot. He was larger than Bula but with some belt-tightening, Bula would be able to imitate the pilot.
Tane was working the slate again. “We are going to have to risk it. I will send the usual six notes so that they know we are safe. I am also sending an encoded message with our co-ordinates. Keller, you should remain in hiding and keep an eye on Shaw.”
“No. Sorry, I am not staying. This has gone far enough. You guys are all I have at the moment and I’m going with you. We’ve just proved it’s not safe here.” Keller said. “Bula, why can’t you take us in? You can take us in as prisoners or captured foresters for questioning. We just have to see what is going on down there. Tane and I may be able to disguise ourselves as foresters and see what can be done to help. For a start, they won’t be expecting any foresters to carry lethal force weapons – we should take these with us,” he said, pointing towards the guns that Kurk’s men had carried.
They discussed the merits of this soberly. To even pick up a weapon capable of this was difficult for both Bula and Tane. However, they had begun to feel like sitting ducks and knew it was only a matter of time before their luck ran out, so reluctantly they decided to go with Keller’s plan.
Bula clambered aboard with Tane and Keller in the rear passenger compartment. They strapped in and Bula worked the controls to lift the heli. Shaw was still unconscious but stable - as were the three men now tied up back to back.
They cleared the forest canopy and the heli drifted down towards the settlement. There were half a dozen other helis coming over the horizon, landing along the tracks leading to the settlement on three sides. The scene below them was chaotic. As they had been warned, they saw smoke coming from several domes and they could see some figures prone in various places. It was a despairing sight. They flew through a bank of smoke and came out close to the village. They could see a large group of foresters sat down in the main circle. There were men standing around them. “They are herding them like cattle,” Tane cried.
“There are children with them,” Keller said flatly. “This is a nightmare.”
They landed behind one of the domed houses. Keller and Bula stepped down, quickly followed by Tane.
Tane entered the low domed house to see if she could see down to the main circle.
Keller and Bula were at the rear of the heli deciding on whether they should take the guns that Kurk’s men had apparently been using on some of the foresters. They suddenly realised that they had unwanted company. Six of the uniformed men rounded the corner. “Bula, there’s too many,” said Keller as Bula made a grab for one of the guns from the heli. He composed himself. He took Keller’s arm and walked towards the men who came to a halt on seeing Keller.
Bula continued forward, pushing Keller ahead of him, who bowed his head. He nodded at the renegades and continued walking past them. “They look like thugs,” Bula whispered.
“Hey, hold there!” a voice cried out. Bula stopped with his hand still on Keller’s shoulder. “Face forward,” he whispered to Keller.
Keller froze. He then glanced ahead wondering what his options were. He saw Tane now, who slid quietly out of the domed house and across a small vegetable patch. He realised she must have seen what had happened. Tane moved down towards the main circle. He had no idea where she was going but presumably any other path was a problem for her. He saw a man lying prone on the grass in the garden beyond where she walked.
Bula had turned around to face the uniformed voice. “Yes?” he said.
The man approached looking mildly disinterested in the proceedings. His five colleagues followed him obediently.
“Who is this?” he said and prodded Keller in the back with his weapon.
“A forester, I found him wandering around up there,” he said, indicating the forest.
“Turn around,” the trooper said to Keller.
As Keller did so, the man was momentarily dumbfounded and then shouted to the others. He struck Keller around the side of the head with his weapon. Bula turned to take hold of the man’s weapon and he himself was struck on the side of the head and fell to the ground. There was a splash of blood as soon as he hit the floor. Keller tried to stand up and looked over at Bula before he was then kicked in the side, forcing him to roll over.
The other troopers seemed momentarily confused by the scene of one trooper beating another.
Keller stood up and ran back towards the heli pushing through two of the men who hadn’t been prepared for his sudden move. Keller grabbed one of the weapons from the rear of the heli. He turned and pointed this at a small shed by the dome and fired. He heard a whoosh and the shed splintered. The men took cover rapidly. Keller, shocked at the devastation of the weapon, stood momentarily confused. Only one of them, the apparent leader, had been carrying the same weapon.
Keller ran into the bushes and beyond into the forest, tucking himself down into a bush. Bula had earlier wondered what the numbered dial was on the side of the weapon when they had put them in the heli. Keller looked over the rock and saw the men taking cover. He examined the weapon quickly. He moved the dial to the left and fired behind him towards the trees. There was a startling whoosh again and higher up in the trees there was a huge splintering of wood and a cloud of dust. He again looked over the rock. They weren’t moving. He changed the dial the other way and pointed it at a nearby tree. A hissing sound erupted and a small but perfect hole appeared in the tree. Keller glanced up searching the area from where he had come from, he was desperate to see where Bula was.
There was another whoosh. The tree beside him almost disintegrated. He sat still - scared for his life and with no idea of what to do next. He heard a number of voices. He realised that he wasn’t trapped at all if he made his way behind the rocks to his right and out of sight down the hill. He thought about firing the weapon over the rock to scare them off and make a run for it. They couldn’t send helis into the forest here and they had to pass where he was, to progress down this side of the forest slope. He thought that he had about an hour and a half until shortnight and that might help him. However, he wasn’t going to leave the people to face the wrath of Kurk’s men.
He lay still for some time, listening. He could still hear movement and was worrying about his friends and the foresters.
A voice suddenly called his name “Hey, Keller! Foundling! I think you probably regret coming to New Fiji now don’t you.” He was being taunted. “Your friends are going to suffer a little now. These traitors to Rayleigh will pay a penalty for siding with
you.”
He heard some crying and crawled forward, looking between the rocks. He was shocked to see that the foresters who had been forced to gather in the main circle were being led to the area near the heli. He wouldn’t be able to fire the weapon towards them. They were being pushed roughly by a number of the uniformed people. They were then made to sit down.
“These foresters are starting to get hungry and thirsty, Earthman. It’s your fault - are you comfortable up there? Or are you ready to give up yet?”
He heard a heli land close to where he had run from. The uniformed men became more disciplined suddenly, with the crowd in front of them.
Keller thought about his next steps and realised how alone he was.
He now heard a voice he recognised. “Keller, I understand you are in a position of strength up in your little hideout. Well, you can run or you can save some lives here. Your mother has been sentenced to death in her absence for her treachery in the last two days. Perhaps we will allow you some mercy if you give yourself up. You have caused us a lot of trouble up until now.”
There were gasps and more crying from the foresters. Keller could now just see Kurk standing with some other uniformed men, all of whom had the same weapons that Keller now held. Kurk motioned to the renegades who waded into the foresters with threats.
Keller was terrified. What sort of man was this?
“Keller, you are an enemy of the new world, the new Rayleigh. You have a choice. If you don’t come out of your hiding place, we will simply start to kill your friends, these traitors cowering here. They add little to the strength of this nation and, for those lucky to survive today, we will make sure they provide labour to help our mining operations on Khatru. You might just benefit from the same treatment if you don’t wear my patience too thin!”
“Keller, they are going to kill you anyway! Run!” It was Carla. He heard a dull thud and some screaming. He was startled by this and saw Carla lying prone on the floor and the guards kicking at those that had sat around her.
“Bring up the children, Captain,” Kurk shouted. There was more screaming and Keller knew that people were being beaten. He could just make out the children at the front huddled together. The noise was awful.
“Quiet, keep quiet,” Kurk screamed at them.
Keller knew he was going to die now, whatever happened. He wasn’t, however, going to let anything happen to the children. He dropped his weapon on the floor and stood up. “Leave them be!” he shouted.
“Good, now come here.” Keller walked towards Kurk - two of his men came towards him and forced him to kneel down. Keller saw Tane amongst the foresters with a renegade standing over her. She tried to make eye contact with him briefly. “Your life may have become worthless to us after your actions. Your short period of freedom has caused us a few problems but our plans remain. We will secure this world and make it a strong world. We don’t back down from our goal of securing control over Rayleigh, but now we can, at least, ensure that once we move on Plymouth Rock and regain control over Macau B, this will be the end of Governor Whelehan and her useless officials.”
“You have taken lives. There is no need to harm these people anymore. It was chance that found us here, leave them in peace,” Keller implored.
“Young man, these are weak people. If they are not prepared to work with us then they are, quite simply, against us.”
With that statement Kurk moved his feet apart, raised the weapon towards the foresters and Keller felt both sickness and helplessness overwhelm him.
Suddenly, there was a thud, then two more. Kurk looked startled and then crumpled to the floor. Several of the uniformed men with the large weapons also fell to the floor. The others looked confused. Two made a grab for the weapons and fell down.
There was a mixture of shock, terror and hope in the eyes of the foresters in front of Keller. Some wept as their ordeal seemed to take a new turn.
“Remain still! We have been authorised to use lethal force,” an amplified voice yelled. Keller remained kneeling and looked at the body of Kurk. He could see the wound either side of his head and realised he was dead.
Nobody moved for a second and then suddenly the voice repeated its command.
Then five camouflaged men came from out of the trees and three others came from one of the domed properties.
“Those of you wearing the rebel uniform will be safe if you remain still. You need to move your hands to the top of your head and keep them in place until you are told. This is by order of Her Excellency, Governor Whelehan.”
At this point, several other men appeared and secured the rebels hands. The rebels appeared shocked at the sight of Kurk and the others lying dead.
Some of the foresters were told led away from the scene whilst others helped their injured. Tane came over to Keller, who had gotten to his feet, and threw her arms around him. “Keller.” She said, almost in tears. He held her. Then he said “Let’s find Bula.”
One of the camouflaged men stopped them. “Sorry Keller, we need to take you to Plymouth Rock.” Keller looked at him and almost pleaded, “We have a friend injured here. He has a renegade uniform - he needs help.”
Keller then saw Bula being helped along by two of the renegades who were under the guidance of one of the governors’ men. Tane and Keller explained the situation. Bula had been mistaken for a renegade due to his uniform. Tane led Bula away to receive first aid with the help of one of Carla’s friends.
Carla herself had a bloody nose and was being comforted by the other foresters. All in all the renegades were responsible for the deaths of nine people in the settlement. It was a real tragedy in such a small community.
Jay came over to Keller. He had been speaking with the governor’s guards and told Keller that from what he had heard had happened back at Macau B and several other locations, Rayleigh was well rid of this man and his followers. There was no joy in this statement as he looked around at the aftermath of their ordeal. Keller could see that he was still in shock. He wondered if Jay would ever get over this.
The prisoners were flown out in some large helis that arrived from beyond the hills. The helis brought with them some medical teams who immediately went to assist the affected foresters. Tane came over to Keller, who was talking to some of the governor’s guards in the main circle. Tane had heard that Keller was one of those being flown out before shortnight. “Bula is okay. He’s been sedated but he’s fine otherwise. We just wanted him to sleep,” she paused then held Keller tight “Keller, It was a brave thing you did when they threatened the children. Another minute out there and you could have been dead,” she looked up at him and nodded her head sadly and said “Goodbye, Keller.” He held her tightly for a little longer. He wondered if he would ever see her again.
Tane, Bula and some of the governor’s guards were going to spend shortnight in the settlement and would then move on. Keller felt he was being summoned to Government House, rather than invited, but he accepted that he needed to get to Plymouth Rock to stand a chance of returning home.
The news of Kurk’s death was already putting out any other sparks of rebellion elsewhere. Keller heard that the Governor had found that several of her junior officials were involved. This had turned from an act of clandestine sabotage to an outright attempt to take control of Government House by force. There had been casualties on both sides but Kurk’s renegades had been defeated.
In Fourtrees Prison, Kurk had control but hadn’t counted on some of the prisoners being loyalists. This had caused rioting which had gotten out of control as soon as Kurk and his men used lethal force. In the end, Kurk’s men had been overwhelmed and fled, choosing instead to pursue Keller. The sight of so many dead bodies outside the prison had quelled any thirst for rebellion amongst many of the Macau B sympathisers who seemed to realise that nothing was worth the bloodletting they had witnessed.
The Meeting
Keller finally met his birth Mother. His heli had touched down in the grounds of what was clearly a gra
nd building in comparison to others in Plymouth Rock. It was certainly modest in terms of the old palaces and government houses that had been built in the boom years of Earth’s history. Those times were over. It was, however, still the centre of this planets democratic offices.
Governor Whelehan welcomed him. She took his hand and walked him into her private office. She held him for a long time and there were tears on both sides. Keller felt for her. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to have left a child in such a manner. They ate together. They both asked many questions of each other but particularly the Governor. His birth mother was keen to hear of his upbringing and was glad that he had such a loving mother in Nola. Keller was asked to stay for longnight, he of course agreed. In the morning they ate breakfast together. The Governor had some engagements and was out for several hours before she returned. She then returned with Ash and introduced him as her security adviser and future husband. Ash had recovered well and Keller found them to clearly be fond of each other.
They spent several days together, sometimes Keller with his birth mother on her own, sometimes with all three. Eventually, he said to Ash, that he needed to go home and didn’t want to hurt the Governor.
“Keller, she knows you want to go home,” Ash had said. “Its fine, just talk to her.”
They booked him on a flight due a six days later.
The Governor had a more work to do each day and he could see she had a world to run. Ash had told Keller that the Government would need to try and address the concerns that had led to the support, albeit limited, that Kurk had enjoyed. His birth mother would lead this effort. There had been concern from other worlds. Not just worry about the stability of Rayleigh, but also they wanted to know how this dissatisfaction had fomented, concerned that it may happen on their own worlds. The fact that a conflict had escalated so quickly, although it had clearly been planned for a while, was a frightening thought. It would focus the various Governors’ minds for some time. The death toll on Rayleigh during this short period of rebellion was 132. This level of violence was unheard of. The Governors pledged to ensure it wouldn’t happen again in their lives. The loss of so many people ensured, to some extent, that the beliefs of Kurk and the likes of him would be associated with these deaths. The worlds were still trying to maintain populations, and one day perhaps grow them again, so any deliberate loss of life was an aberration. This value attributed to life was one of the unique aspects of this period of mankind’s history.
