Terra's World

by Mitch Benn

  Terra danced happily over to the statue. ‘It was smashed!’ she said. ‘The G’grk blew it up in the invasion! It’s Tnk, the inventor of GravTech! All this, the whole Preceptorate, was down to him! I’m so glad that—’

  Terra froze. She was looking up at the statue as it rotated. Her smile evaporated.

  ‘Who IS that?’ she said.

  Billy looked up at the statue. He hadn’t seen many Fnrrns – just TV pictures of Terra’s stepfather in fact – and couldn’t imagine he’d be able to tell them apart very easily. They didn’t seem to have enough in the way of facial features. But he could tell, as the statue turned to face them, that something about its face had struck Terra as being terribly wrong.

  ‘That’s – that’s not Tnk. Who is it?’ Terra ran over to the plinth. She stared at the symbols carved into it.

  ‘Gfjk-Hhh,’ she said. She looked at Billy, her eyes full of tears and anger. ‘WHAT is a Gfjk-Hhh?’

  2.2

  Terra and Billy stood beneath the turning statue that was not of Tnk, but of someone or something called Gfjk-Hhh. Billy sensed waves of sadness and anger coming from Terra and decided that who or whatever this Gfjk-Hhh was, he would be in serious trouble when Terra got hold of him.

  Terra breathed deeply, then paused. ‘Do you hear that?’ she whispered.

  ‘What?’

  ‘That – listen,’ said Terra quietly. Billy closed his eyes and listened. He heard nothing except the wind whistling between the buildings. After a second, it dawned on him that there was no wind. He opened his eyes.

  ‘What IS that?’ he asked Terra.

  ‘It sounds like . . . cheering,’ she said thoughtfully.

  ‘That sounds like cheering? It’s just a sort of faint hiss,’ protested Billy.

  Terra shrugged. ‘That’s how they cheer here. I think it’s coming from the Gshkth Pit,’ and she set off.

  ‘Gesundheit,’ said Billy, and set off after her.

  * * *

  The Gshkth Pit turned out to be a sports stadium, with a large circular stand. The streets surrounding the stadium were as deserted as everywhere else, but as they approached, the hissing cheers became identifiable even to Billy’s ears. He remembered the translation cube in his pocket. He touched it to activate it and was startled when the sound became a full-throated bellow, such as might greet a goal in a sold-out football ground. Evidently the cube translated sounds as well as words.

  ‘Terra,’ he said over the noise. Terra jumped (she was still listening to the hiss, so Billy’s shout rather came out of nowhere as far as she was concerned). ‘Aren’t we going to be a bit, well, conspicuous in there?’

  Terra thought this over. ‘It sounds like they’re focused on other things,’ she said. ‘If we don’t draw attention to ourselves we could be okay.’

  Billy wasn’t convinced, but he knew there would be no way to dissuade Terra from finding out what was going on inside that stadium.

  They found a side entrance. It was unlocked and unguarded. They crept inside, climbing white stone steps. Emerging into the light, they crouched at the top of the steps, remaining as hidden as possible. This was what they saw.

  The stadium was full to capacity, every seat occupied and yet more Fnrrns standing in the aisles. Billy’s hair stood on end; to find himself literally surrounded by aliens was every bit as disturbing as he’d feared, except, as he reminded himself, he was the alien here. There were, by his estimation, at least ten thousand of them; taller, on average, than humans, grey-skinned, domed heads, black oval eyes. He’d seen TV pictures of Terra’s stepfather soon after her arrival on Earth; he’d seemed harmless enough, on his own, surrounded by humans. This was different. This was VERY different. Billy felt horribly exposed and vulnerable. He tried to shrink into himself. He was under little illusion that it was making any difference.

  Fortunately, the attention of all present was focused on the central pit. Terra noticed that while many of the Fnrrns were cheering with unfeigned enthusiasm, others seemed less sure, glancing around themselves nervously and occasionally letting out a half-hearted hiss.

  At the front of the stand there was an enclosed area, which reminded Billy of the royal box, from which the Queen (or nearest offer) would pretend to watch the FA Cup final. The enclosure was occupied by what looked like cowled monks, clad in white robes with hoods over their heads. Seated in the middle of this enclosure was a young Fnrrn in a resplendent green and gold robe, and an oddly shaped brass-coloured helmet. Terra tensed up.

  ‘That’s him,’ she whispered to Billy, ‘the statue; that’s him.’

  Billy peered at the robed Fnrrn; he was going to have to take her word for it. While he wouldn’t have gone so far as to say that Fnrrns all looked the same to him, thus far they did all look pretty similar.

  The green-and-gold-robed Fnrrn got to his feet. Behind him, an orange-clad guard stood up and bellowed, - Love and glory to the Gfjk-Hhh! and the crowd repeated this, some (Terra noticed again) more vigorously than others.

  Terra saw that some among the crowd were clad in the same hooded, monkish robes as the Fnrrns surrounding the Gfjk-Hhh in his enclosure. They might be the ‘party faithful’, Terra thought. Was everyone else here under compulsion? If everyone had indeed been rounded up and forced to attend this event, whatever it was, that did at least explain the emptiness of the streets. Of course, even at full capacity, the stadium couldn’t hold more than a fraction of the city’s population. Perhaps those who couldn’t attend in person had been ordered to stay at home and watch on the visualiser? It was a theory, and one that Terra found vaguely reassuring, but she still didn’t like the look of this Gfjk-Hhh character one bit.

  This Gfjk-Hhh character spoke.

  - Beloved children! Are you ready for some GSHKTH?

  The crowd cheered with varying degrees of commitment. Is that all we’re here for? thought Terra. To watch some gshkth? She’d played gshkth herself at the Lyceum. It had never been regarded as a big deal. The Gfjk-Hhh continued:

  - Captain, who do we have to entertain us today?

  The guard (Guard Captain, evidently) produced a paper-like scroll (paper – here? thought Terra) and read aloud:

  - We have Crkl-sh-Gkh-sh-Lfft of Jfd-Jfd, Luminescence.

  A scared-looking Fnrrn was pushed out in front of the ‘royal box’ by two more guards.

  - Ah yes, there he is, said the Gfjk-Hhh cheerfully. What’s he been up to, then?

  - Sedition, Luminescence, said the Captain. The Gfjk-Hhh flopped into his seat, looking comically bored.

  - Sedition AGAIN? he asked. Is that the only thing anybody ever gets arrested for these days? He stood up and bellowed, Doesn’t anyone just STEAL anything any more?

  There was a tense silence. The Gfjk-Hhh’s face split into an expectant smile. Realising that he’d made a joke, the crowd began to laugh. At first nervously, then loudly, eventually hysterically, as if everyone present was afraid to be seen to be finding the Gfjk-Hhh’s pleasantry less hilarious than their neighbour.

  The Gfjk-Hhh sighed theatrically. - Fine, sedition, whatever. In he goes. The guards holding the scared-looking Fnrrn shoved him into the pit. He landed with a painful-sounding thud, then stood up, evidently unhurt, but terrified.

  - Next player! barked the Gfjk-Hhh, rubbing his hands together as another Fnrrn was dragged before him.

  The Captain read from his scroll. - Pfftl-sh-Bknp-sh-Thrk of Fzkl, Luminescence. Arrested for—

  The Gfjk-Hhh interrupted him. - Altogether now! he shouted.

  - SEDITION! shouted the crowd.

  - Erm . . . no, tax evasion, actually, Luminescence, said the Captain a little nervously.

  - Really? Almost as bad. In he goes. The Gfjk-Hhh smiled, and the second Fnrrn was pushed into the pit alongside the first. The two prisoners eyed each other nervously.

  This was repeated twice more
; two more prisoners were paraded, two more charges were read out, two more scared Fnrrns were pushed into the pit.

  - Right! If we’re all here, let’s play! declaimed the Gfjk-Hhh, to more cheers.

  The Gfjk-Hhh approached the pit. In each hand he brandished two gfrgs, the curved sticks with which one played gshkth. - Now then, he said, everyone knows the rules of gshkth. Last one standing wins a reprieve; the other three . . . don’t.

  Terra noticed something odd about the gfrgs. They seemed to glint in the afternoon sun in a way she’d never seen gfrgs shine before. Edging forward, apparently willing to risk being seen, she stared at the objects being held aloft by the Gfjk-Hhh. As he tossed them into the pit, she gasped in horror.

  The gfrgs had blades. Long, sharp metal blades.

  This was not gshkth. This was some hideous perversion of gshkth. This Gfjk-Hhh had taken a harmless – if rigorous – game, and turned it into a method of execution. Anger and disgust welled up inside her, in a way she simply couldn’t contain.

  - NO! screamed Terra.

  Thousands of grey heads, thousands of pairs of oval black eyes, turned to look at her.

  ‘Nice not attracting attention to yourself there,’ hissed Billy.

  The Gfjk-Hhh, startled by the sound and by the hushed reaction it provoked, got to his feet and stared right at Terra. A succession of emotions passed across his face; confusion, surprise, perhaps a little revulsion. Finally, a broad smile.

  - Well now, he said, look who came home. GET HER!

  2.3

  Terra felt a hand tugging violently at the back of her hoodie.

  ‘Come ON!’ shouted Billy.

  Terra took one last horrified glance at the Gshkth Pit and then hurtled back down the white stone steps into the dark interior of the building.

  The assembled spectators had taken a moment to respond to the Gfjk-Hhh’s command, and indeed, not all of them had responded at all, but within moments there was a crowd surging down the steps after them. Two figures clad in the white hooded robes pushed their way to the front of the throng. As Billy fled, he stole a glance over his shoulder. He could have sworn that one of the hooded figures deliberately tripped the taller Fnrrn that was following, causing him to fall, which in turn caused the three or four Fnrrns behind HIM to fall. Soon there was a pile of grey bodies at the foot of the steps, while the hooded figure who had started the pile-up stole away unharmed. ‘Did you see that?’ Billy shouted, but Terra was too intent on running to hear him.

  They came to a length of corridor. They were somewhere underneath the stands. Terra was racking her memory, trying to get an image in her mind of the layout of the place, when a door popped open. A voice, one Terra knew from somewhere, said, - In here!, and in desperate want of any better ideas, Terra rushed through the door, dragging a bewildered Billy with her.

  Terra – and especially Billy – jumped with fright when the door closed behind them, and they found themselves alone in a tiny room with one of the hooded figures. Terra turned and began to struggle with the door catch when the voice said, - It’s okay! It’s me! Terra! It’s okay! And what have you done with the stuff on your head?

  The figure lowered its hood. It was Shnst. Or possibly Thnst.

  Despite their many years together in the same class at the Pre-Academy, and later at the Lyceum, Terra had never been able to tell the twin sisters apart. At that moment she didn’t care which one it was. She was so happy to see a friendly face that she nearly flattened Shnst (or Thnst) with her hug.

  - It’s gone all short and spiky and it’s a weird colour! Seriously, Terra, what have you done with it?

  - Never (Terra thumped Shnst or Thnst in exasperation) MIND my hair, what’s happened here? And what’s with the costume?

  - It’s the uniform. The New Believers. We all have to wear them. He makes us.

  The door burst open and another hooded figure limped in. It was Thnst (or Shnst). - Nice idea, of yours, sis, they all fell everywhere, she said. Hurt my leg a bit tripping that big f ’zft up, though. Oh, there she is. What’s she done with the stuff on her head? she asked her sister.

  Terra ignored this and continued with her questions. - He MAKES you? How does he make you? And who IS he?

  - He’s the Gfjk-Hhh, said Shnst/Thnst. He’s in charge now.

  - Yes, because of the prophecy, said Thnst/Shnst.

  The sound of the crowd rushing around the stadium in search of the humans rumbled through the walls and ceiling. Billy looked nervously at the door. Was it locked?

  Terra was flabbergasted. - Prophecy? What prophecy? This is Fnrr! This is Mlml! You don’t do prophecies!

  Shnst and Thnst looked at each other. - But it’s true. He’s the Gfjk-Hhh and he’s come back, like the prophecy said, so he’s in charge now. There’s nothing we can do.

  - Come back? When was he here the last time? The more information Terra gleaned, the more confused she got. When did all this happen?

  - An orbit or so ago.

  - That might explain why you haven’t heard anything for so long, said Billy, who then wondered why his mouth and throat felt so odd. Wait, am I speaking Fnrrn now? he thought. He took the translation cube out of his pocket and glowered at it suspiciously. He wasn’t sure he liked the idea of it getting inside his brain like this, but as long as he could make himself understood . . .

  - Who’s this? asked Shnst (Terra was fairly sure this one was Shnst).

  - It’s another one, said Thnst (probably).

  - Another one? asked Shnst.

  - Another Ymn, said Thnst. Looks like a boy one.

  - Is it a boy one? asked Shnst. She turned to Terra. Why have you brought a boy one?

  - He’s my friend Billy, said Terra, but he’s not important right now.

  - Oh, cheers, said Billy.

  - What’s important, said Terra, ignoring him, is where the others are.

  - They ran away, said Thnst. Soon after the Gfjk-Hhh took over, Preceptor Shm and all the others went . . . somewhere else.

  Terra breathed hard. Did that mean he was safe?

  The sound of the crowd died away. Either the search had migrated to outside the building or they’d given up looking, Billy thought.

  - We don’t all follow him, insisted Shnst. We have to wear these stupid robes and everything, but we don’t all do what he—

  There came a thunderous knock at the door. - Open up in there!

  They exchanged horrified glances.

  2.4

  Custodians Bktg and Slgf were annoyed. They’d been looking forward to the gshkth – they were fans of the Gfjk-Hhh’s new improved version of gshkth – and it had been ruined by the arrival of the little alien interloper. They had no idea what His Luminescence had in mind for the Ymn when they caught her, but they hoped it was something nasty. Maybe something they’d get to watch.

  They’d found a locked storeroom (which evidently no one had checked) and heard voices coming from inside. Now they were hammering on the door, and contemplating what rewards might await custodians who pleased the Gfjk-Hhh. They’d heard tantalising rumours.

  The door opened. Bktg and Slgf saw four youngsters; two in everyday garments and two in the white robes of the New Believers.

  - Thank you! said one of the youngsters. They locked us in here!

  - They’re monsters! Aliens! Horrible! said another one, who looked and sounded remarkably similar to the first.

  - They said they were going to the Forum to attack His Luminescence when he arrives! Quickly, you need to get there before they do!

  With thoughts of reward still fresh in their minds, the two custodians hurried away, with a shouted - Love and glory to the Gfjk-Hhh! as they left.

  Shnst and Thnst looked at each other, and then at Terra and Billy. - Well, THEY were stupid, said Shnst.

  - If that’s the average intelligenc
e of the Gfjk-Hhh’s followers, we should be okay, said Terra, lowering the hood of her white robe. Do you mind if we keep these? We won’t last a blip out in the open without them.

  - Listen, Terra, said Thnst. About what you said – about his followers being stupid. Take care. They’re not all stupid. Some of them are very clever.

  - And not all of us are resisting, said Shnst sadly. A lot of people were really happy when he took over. They said the government was useless and Mlml needed some real leadership, especially after nearly getting invaded. And what with the prophecy . . .

  Terra snorted.

  - Don’t laugh! said Thnst. They believe it. They really do. They think this is what’s supposed to be happening. They believe he’s meant to rule us. And when people really believe something . . .

  - There’s no end to what they’ll do, said Shnst quietly.

  There was a leaden pause.

  - Where to now? asked Billy.

  Terra looked hopefully at the sisters, but Shnst lowered her eyes. - No, she said, not our place. You see, our parents . . . they’d . . . They wouldn’t . . .

  - They’re his, said Thnst simply.

  - I see, said Terra.

  - We’d better get home, said Shnst. Good luck.

  - You too, said Terra, and she hugged them both.

  2.5

  The Forum building in the centre of Hrrng was still known by that name, although the Forum hadn’t been in session for a long time now.

  On the benches where once had sat rows of sombre, robed delegates, now lounged a curious collection of characters. Bizarrely dressed courtiers, off-duty Retinue custodians merry on too much zft-zft, others sleeping this off, panicking servants cleaning up the mess. This was the Gfjk-Hhh’s inner circle. Some he kept around because they amused him, some because they had some exploitable talent or other, many just because he enjoyed watching them trying to compete for his favours.