One by one, the swarm of giant dragon-like birds landed. Sky who had already been showing a team of Andarrans how to rope the merlocks like she had done, set the first of them to work. Although they were unarmed, this was still the first time that the two species had come so close to each other, and for a brief time a sort of chaos ensued which resulted in several Andarrans being hurt. With Vello’s help, though, calm was restored, and before long the injured were being carefully mounted onto the merlocks’ backs.
‘It’s amazing,’ said Sky, helping Arthur to set up the ropes around one of the merlocks.
‘What is?’
‘Well, Vello told me that merlocks don’t ever get together in such numbers. He said that when they find a mate, they go and live high up on mountain peaks, away from others.’
‘I wonder what he said to get them together like this,’ he said thoughtfully.
‘Yeah, I asked him about that. He said it wasn’t what he told them,’ said Sky, ‘it was what he showed them. He told me that he showed them what the Solarians had done to Tresk and what the Andarrans were fighting against.’
Arthur, pulled tightly on the knot he had just made and looked up.
‘Well, it worked!’ He said.
It took quite a while to rope all of the merlocks, and by the time they were loaded up with the injured, they were becoming increasingly restless. Insuro and Vello made quick final checks and hurried over to where Arthur and the Major were waiting.
‘Come, friends, it is time for us to go. The merlocks will take us as far as the Nira valley.’
‘But Insuro, the Commander of that valley told us never to come back,’ said Sky.
‘I am aware of this,’ he replied with a flicker of a grin. ‘The time of many changes is coming. You have nothing to fear there.’
‘Major!’ She said suddenly, as he was about to climb up on to his merlock. ‘Where are Yan and Margot!?’ In all the confusion, she – and, it seemed, Arthur too – had quite forgotten that they hadn’t seen them. She remembered spotting Sava helping Luca after they’d returned with Vello and the merlock, but Margot and Yan were nowhere to be seen, even now.
The Major’s smile left his face.
‘Yan didn’t make it,’ he said. ‘He took the full force of the glacier cave-in. You two were very lucky that you got away at all.’
Sky felt crushed. She hadn’t expected that. She could still picture him just in front of them in the crevasse before it happened.
‘What about Margot?’
‘Margot was hurt and broke her leg. Sezan patched her up as best he could, but there was no way we could take her with us. Speed, if you remember, was critical. So we left her in a safe place and now Vello will go back for her.’
Sky breathed a sigh of relief. She had grown close to Margot since their arrival on Andarra. If she wasn’t hanging around with Arthur, then she was usually with Margot. Climbing on to the merlock behind Arthur, Sky decided not to tell him about Yan. She would do it, perhaps, when they reached the Nira valley.
Arthur waited for Captain Schmidt to mount his merlock. Insuro and the Major were already waiting. It had been decided that they, along with ten other merlocks and their riders, would form what the Major had nicknamed ‘Merlock Squadron’ or M-Squadron for short. M-Squadron would fly out in front and much higher than the main group carrying the wounded, and would try to deal with any dangers that presented themselves.
It was surprising, thought Arthur, that in the time it had taken to rig up all ninety or so merlocks and get the wounded strapped onto them, the enemy had not sent out a force to respond to the attack on the base. They must have heard about it by now, he reasoned. Moreover, ninety merlocks flying together would form a substantial blip on the Solarians’ monitoring screens. As he was mulling it over, he saw that Sava had joined their group. Luca was with the injured.
On Insuro’s signal, the merlocks of M-Squadron flapped their enormous wings, throwing up a blinding snow cloud, and rose into the air. As they climbed steeply, Arthur looked back at the main group, who were just starting to take off. It was an incredible sight to see so many merlocks all taking off together, stirring up a cloud so thick that nothing was visible until they burst through the top of it and up into the sky.
M-Squadron continued to climb higher and higher. In the cloudless late afternoon, Arthur felt as though he could see the whole of Andarra stretched out below. It was an indescribable feeling to be sat on the back of the giant creature, flying in formation, having just rescued his father. And although it was utterly freezing and his face was numb with cold, he felt good.
M-Squadron increased the distance and height between itself and the main group. It would be hard for the injured to deal with the extreme cold at higher altitudes, and being able to sweep down from above could give them a tactical advantage. The sun was already sinking towards the horizon in front of them, making it hard to see anything that might be coming at them. Arthur had already begun to relax and enjoy himself when he heard the Major over the radio.
‘Picking up three possibles at twelve o’clock,’ he said. ‘But it’s too damn hard with that sun in my face to say for certain if they’re there or if I’m imagining it.’
Arthur strained to see what the Major was talking about, trying hard to avoid looking directly into the sun. At first he couldn’t see anything, but after the Major had mentioned them a second time, he also thought he saw three black dots on the horizon. There was little doubt what they were in Insuro’s mind.
‘Solarian destroyers,’ he said. ‘They will be close enough to engage in a few of your Earth minutes. Keeper! The other merlocks share a link with yours; you must find a way to link with him. The main group need to be instructed to scatter. If they stay together, they will be targeted with ease.’
‘But how?’ asked Arthur. He had seen what had happened to Vello when he had joined his mind with the creature.
‘Look inside your mind, and, just as we can talk without speaking, so you must project your thoughts and link with the merlock. Do not trouble yourself with what you saw happen to Vello. What he undertook is, at this moment, beyond your powers.’
Arthur could feel Sky leaning round him, trying to get a glimpse of the oncoming Solarian ships. He closed his eyes and attempted to block out the roar of the wind rushing past them and the intense feeling of cold. Vello had taught him that he needed to use his thoughts to construct what he had called ‘an exchange’, a way to use his mind to make connections. Arthur had imagined an empty room with doors leading from it, with each door corresponding to a person. When he wanted to talk this way with Insuro or Vello, he would try to imagine this room and make a link with them by opening the door he required and walking through it. Arthur tried now to picture the room, the familiar red walls and black tiled floor. As it took shape in his mind, the doors appeared in their usual places, but there was nothing new. He panicked a little as he saw himself standing in the centre of the room without understanding what to do next. This was the only way he knew to communicate, and there was no time to find another.
The urgency of the situation pressed on him. He continued looking around, expecting a new door to appear, but there was none. He was about to open the door he knew allowed him to ‘mind speak’ with Insuro, when he noticed something he was sure he hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t a door or anything like what he’d been expecting. It was a large patch, dark red in colour, which had formed on a previously featureless red wall. Unsure what to make of it, he drew closer and saw that it appeared to be pulsating. Arthur took a deep breath and touched it. Straight away a feeling of electricity surged through him before forming a shimmering bubble-like layer around him and pulling him into the patch of wall.
The room dissolved and Arthur knew he had somehow made the connection he needed with the merlock. With his eyes still closed, visions flashed into his mind: visions of them flying, of the Sola
rian ships getting closer, of the many merlocks below carrying the wounded fighters, followed by a vision of the M-Squadron breaking into three groups and attacking the Solarian ships from above. Arthur understood what the merlock wanted, what it was trying to tell him. He was showing him what was happening now and what it wanted to happen.
But Arthur had seen nothing about the main group. Trying to keep his thoughts together, he focused on creating a vision of the Solarians attacking the main group with rockets and a terrible massacre unfolding. And then another vision of the merlocks scattering in every direction, with more surviving that way. He paused and wondered if the merlock had understood him at all. It was only when he was shown a similar vision of the group splitting up, followed by his merlock letting out a long, vibrating cry, that he understood that he had managed it!
Arthur opened his eyes, but before he had time to say anything to Insuro or the others about the merlock’s plan, their group broke into three and banked hard in different directions, climbing sharply. Arthur twisted round and looked below. He breathed a sigh of relief as the main group were scattering in every direction at astonishing speed. He rushed to fill the others in on what the merlock had shown him. Seconds after he had finished, Solarian destroyers opened fire with swarms of plasma rockets.
24
Tally Ho!
The Solarian rocket swarms had been aimed at the main group of merlocks trying to disperse. One after another, rockets were finding their targets, sending the giant creatures flaming and spiralling to the ground along with the wounded fighters they were carrying. Arthur felt sick as he watched it happening. He tried desperately to see if he could see his father, but it was mayhem. He couldn’t understand who was who. The only thing he knew was that the slower merlocks were being picked off while the faster ones were already out of the battle zone.
‘It is not your fault, Keeper,’ came the voice of Insuro through his thoughts. Somehow, the President always seemed to sense what he was feeling. ‘Even if you had been faster in your endeavour to link with the merlocks, the weaker ones would always have been in danger. This is war, my friend. Death waits eagerly on the battlefield for its chance to take us all. Come, have peace in your heart and ride forth to battle. If we do not defeat these ships, we may not see tomorrow’s dawn!’
Reluctantly, Arthur tore his eyes away from searching for his father and focused on what was happening in front of him.
M-Squadron, in the vanguard, had split into three smaller groups and risen high into the sky above the Solarian ships, which had so far ignored them, concentrating their fire on the larger group. Forming three lines in the sky, they dived straight at the large destroyers, beaks open, their necks pulsating – red and then yellow. The most Arthur could do was hold on with all the strength he could muster, burying his head behind the merlock’s neck to reduce the force of the wind trying to pull him off. Several others were not so lucky and were swept off the backs of their merlocks.
The giant birds twisted sharply and climbed again after they had finished their dive run. Arthur glanced to see if anything had happened, but the enemies’ ships still seemed normal. He wondered if the size of them might be too much for the merlocks. As they climbed, the Major seemed to think that they had slowed the Solarians down a bit. But there was no time to debate it – now they faced a much bigger problem. The Solarians had switched to targeting them! New rocket swarms spewed out of the undersides of the Destroyers. The ships’ powerful-looking plasma canons were also brought into use.
‘Not good! Not good at all!’ shouted Captain Schmidt as his merlock banked hard to the right to avoid the first of the incoming plasma shells. ‘I hope these birds know what they’re doing, because I don’t like our chances of surviving what’s being thrown at us!’
No sooner had he said it than the merlock next to Arthur was hit in the wing as it tried to outmanoeuvre a rocket. With a heart-wrenching cry, it fell backwards, somersaulting down through the air. Arthur’s bird let out a blood-curdling screech, and in unison the remaining merlocks of M-Squadron turned sharply and formed a line to face a second wave of rockets. As one they opened their beaks and emitted that same ear-piercing sound as before, which almost caused Arthur to drop his plasma rifle for a second time. Seconds later, the rockets were falling out of the sky. A bolt from the plasma cannon on one of the ships narrowly missed the Major and his merlock, who had appeared to sense it, turning at the last second to avoid it.
The merlocks broke their line, climbing back up above the ships so as to avoid their cannon fire. Again they dived on the Solarians, beaks open, necks pulsating. By the time they rose into the sky again to make another dive, the Solarians’ ships appeared to have come to a complete standstill.
‘Whatever it is these beauties are able to do, it’s given those ships something to think about,’ called out the Major excitedly.
‘Yes, Major,’ replied Insuro, ‘but we are not enough in number to be able to destroy them. All we can do is create time for the main group. Their engines will be functional again shortly, I fear.’
As he spoke, more rocket swarms were flaming towards them and the merlocks at the back of the fleeing group.
‘Maybe they will help,’ called out Sky, squeezing Arthur so tightly that he thought she might crush him. Grimacing, he glanced round to see what Sky was on about. ‘No, silly, there on the right!’
Everyone looked to their right. Just above the horizon was another large, dark mass.
‘What is it? Looks like a cloud,’ said the Captain.
‘Look again, my friend,’ said Insuro, not even trying to conceal the happiness in his voice.
Arthur stared fixedly at the cloud. At first he really couldn’t make out what Sky had seen, or grasp what Insuro was so happy about. And then, kicking himself, he suddenly recalled where he had already seen a similar cloud. It hadn’t occurred to him at all that there might be even more of them.
‘Merlocks!’ He shouted.
‘Are you sure, lad?’ asked the Major, still unable to make them out.
‘Yes!’ cried Sky.
‘Well, well, well,’ crowed the Major. ‘These boys might help us get out of this mess yet!’
As the cloud of merlocks sped towards them, it transformed into two long lines, both gaining height as the birds approached. The Solarians had seen them coming and were focusing their fire on the approaching waves. M-Squadron regrouped above the ships to watch what was about to happen. The Solarian destroyers had managed to turn and face the merlocks head on, even though their main engines were still not functional.
‘I can’t watch,’ said Sky emotionally. ‘It’s going to be a slaughter!’
‘A slaughter?’ repeated Insuro. ‘And why do you think that?’ He asked kindly.
‘I saw what their missiles did to those merlocks carrying the wounded! Now there are even more of them to hit.’
‘And yet, just our little group was able to temporarily disable their engines and knock their rockets from the sky. Do you not think that so many more could inflict a far greater toll on this foe?’
‘Yes… maybe… but how many are going to have to die needlessly?’
‘Needlessly? We are not to judge what is needless or otherwise. In a universe where the effect of our actions can reverberate, sometimes long after they have been made, it would be presumptuous to call anything needless. Only history can make such judgements, and that lies in a future yet to be written.’
Arthur couldn’t see Sky’s face but he could imagine it in the silence that followed.
The Solarian destroyers had been holding back, waiting for the merlocks to come within range. As they did, the three ships opened fire with everything they had, each one firing hundreds of rockets simultaneously. Arthur felt Sky grip his waist harder as she watched the start of the attack. He found himself counting the seconds as the swarms of rockets streaked towards the oncoming lines. The
Solarians’ plasma cannons were already in range and were targeting the giant birds. Arthur closed his eyes and looked away as he saw one get hit hard and fall out of the sky.
‘I can’t watch,’ said Sky.
‘Me neither.’
Arthur patted his merlock on the neck and stared off in another direction. Far away he could see others still trying to escape with their wounded passengers. He hoped his father was among them.
‘Would you have a look at that!’ came the Major’s trembling voice through the tense silence. Arthur twisted around in time to see what was going on. The first wave of rockets had simply fallen out of the sky without having hit any of the merlocks, instead demolishing a vast area of the glacier below. Everyone watched, fixated, as the next wave closed in.
‘Go merlocks!’ yelled Sky as the second wave went the way of the first. The third and fourth also exploded on the glacier. The ships’ plasma cannons, however, were taking a heavy toll. With the last swarm of rockets creating a tumultuous fireball on the glacier, the merlocks broke their lines and twisted and turned as they dived on the destroyers. Even from where they were, Arthur could see their necks pulsating in the darkening skies.
‘Those ships won’t be able to withstand much more,’ said the Major, as the Solarians’ shields started to visibly surge with energy currents.
In alarm, the Solarians ceased firing and tried to engage their cloaking shields, but all they could manage was to shimmer without disappearing.
‘Come on, lads! Finish them!’ growled the Major. He hadn’t meant for everyone to hear him, but they were all feeling the same way. Inside, Arthur was cheering the merlocks on and feeling pangs of pain each time one of them was shot down.
Arthur and the Andarran Rescue Page 21
