London Wild

by V. E. Shearman

  ‘Leaving us alive and uneaten?’ George commented.

  ‘Well, admittedly it’s not perfect,’ Maureen commented, ‘but I think it’ll work. You didn’t hand your pet moggy in because she was holding you at gun point. It’ll fit in with their original claim that wild cats were hiding as pets too. The authorities ought to like that. We don’t need to mention that Kitty wouldn’t hurt a fly. With any luck it’ll be enough to get you—to get all of us—off the hook with the law.’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ George commented. ‘It feels as if we’d be betraying them.’

  ‘You don’t think they’ve already betrayed us?’ Maureen pointed out.

  ‘Come on,’ Stanley piped in, ‘it makes perfect sense. They’ve left us. Let’s not let them drag us down with them.’

  ‘Did you two rehearse this?’ George looked from Stanley to Maureen and then back again.

  ‘No,’ Stanley replied quizzically, ‘Why? Don’t you think Maureen is making sense?’ Stanley commented.

  ‘Okay,’ George told them, ‘I’m open to it as a suggestion, but let’s give them one more day to return to us first. Let’s not betray them until we know for sure they aren’t coming back. If they aren’t here this time tomorrow then I’ll go along with your suggestion.’

  ‘You won’t regret it,’ Stanley told him.

  ‘How do we explain to the authorities why we waited? It’s already more than twenty-four hours since we could have reported them,’ Maureen asked.

  ‘I’m sure you’ll think of something,’ George told her. He then got on with his meal, signifying he would compromise no further.

  43

  The Captain’s Opinion

  It was a large room, certainly the largest that Charles had seen since his arrival on the moon. Considering its dimensions and the placement of its satellite rooms, it had most likely been used for things like wedding receptions and birthday parties back when the moon had been open to the general public. The room had been hurriedly painted white about a week and a half earlier, and they had used a special odorless paint so that the room was usable as soon as it dried. Despite that there was a funny smell in the room, and Charles couldn’t help thinking that it might be of Eschiff origin.

  For the last week or so the room had played host to the almost daily meetings that were being held between the Eschiff and the humans. To help officiate this there was a strategically positioned large square table. The three world leaders sat at the far side from the entry door with the French President, Pierre Hugot, taking the middle seat and the American President, Ian Davison, and the English Prime Minister, James Perry, sitting on either side of him. Although the French Premier seemed to have the center spotlight, there was no perceived hierarchy between them and each was as equal as the other two in these talks.

  Standing just behind each world leader and supposedly at ease—although their eyes were constantly on the move, watching everything that happened in that room and at the same time keeping an eye on every nook and cranny for those not invited to the meeting or for listening devices planted by foreign powers—were two bodyguards. These bodyguards also seemed to keep a careful eye on what the bodyguards of the other two world leaders were doing the whole time during the meeting, none of them trusting the others any further than they absolutely had to.

  Charles was one of the two bodyguards standing behind the Prime Minister, and he did his job as well as any other, keeping his eye constantly on everything that touched the table, every little movement one of the other leaders made and especially anything that the Eschiff might do.

  There were three Eschiff. They sat on the side of the table nearest the door in a mirror image of the three world leaders. In this case the one in the middle was definitely the leader and spoke English very clearly, and apparently he had been speaking the tongue as a native might since the very first meeting. The two aides were less capable with the language. Instead they wore small boxes at their waists that translated what they said, usually at the same time as they spoke it but at a slightly higher volume so that the translated version was easier to hear. It could sometimes be a little amusing because when one of the aides spoke, he had a habit of getting louder in an attempt to hear his own voice above the translation, and of course the translated version got even louder still.

  The Eschiff never brought bodyguards with them to these meetings, and though Charles couldn’t be absolutely certain because of their alien nature, they didn’t appear to bring any weapons either.

  This was Charles’ third day on the moon and his first real sight of the aliens, and although the others had told him what he should expect, nothing could quite prepare him for the true reality of what the Eschiff were. Their faces, their ears, their stripes, their whiskers strongly reminded Charles of tigers, only these tigers were vastly technologically superior to humans. Charles couldn’t help but make the association in his mind, though, and what bothered him most was that tigers were dangerous.

  It was about two hours into the latest meeting when the leader of the Eschiff said, ‘Well, gentlemen, we should inform you that we aren’t too happy with the way the war against the Herbaht is going. The French people seem to have dealt with their problem and will be allowed to do business with us in the near future. Likewise, the American people have virtually destroyed the Herbaht race in their land. They have admitted that they allowed ten to get away, and thus by not trying to hide their folly we have agreed to give them an extra seven days in order to hunt those last few down and dispose of them. If they meet this deadline then we will be willing to do future business with them too. It is with the English that we find the execution of the war sadly lacking. They tried an audacious plan which seems to have backfired on them, and now they don’t know where most of the Herbaht are or where they are going to go next. These attacks on individuals’ properties housing some members of their community will probably pay dividends in time. But we believe there are still somewhere in the region of nearly twenty thousand scattered among the counties from London and Sou’nd all the way north to Scotland and possibly even across the border in Scotland. We think the chances that the English will meet tonight’s deadline is unlikely. To be honest, they haven’t even emptied the cells at their own Cattery yet, and that part should have been easy. We haven’t decided what path we’re going to be taking yet if they do fail, but you can be sure that we will be taking a more direct response to the Herbaht threat if you don’t meet the deadline.’

  Then one of the aides spoke. The overlapping of his natural voice and the translation would have been a little disconcerting to anyone listening had they not had two hours to get used to it. ‘We have decided to extend the deadline for the English people until twelve noon tomorrow by their clocks. We will therefore be meeting in here again at five-thirty P.M. local time to see if there has been any progress with the American or English problems. Since this is intended to be purely a fact finding meeting, the French leader is not required to come but he will be welcome if he wishes to show.’

  Not required to come, Charles thought to himself. The Eschiff were definitely acting as if they were calling the shots.

  ‘I’ll be honest,’ the alien leader said. ‘It would be better for everyone if we don’t get involved. If the Herbaht learn we are here, it could make things awkward for all of us. We would rather our existence wasn’t known of, at least until there are no Herbaht left. If you force us to show our hands early, then we will be more than willing to do so, but we will not be happy.’

  Then as the alien finished speaking, without waiting for any of the three world leaders to reply and without even the courtesy of a ‘goodbye,’ the three Eschiff got up and started to file out the door and into the hallway beyond. No doubt they were returning to their ship.

  The American and English leaders watched them go and then looked at each other as if thinking the same thing. They had wanted the chance to defend themselves.

  ‘You have ten strays, and they give you another week,’ the Pri
me Minister finally uttered. ‘We have twenty thousand strays and they give us less than twenty-four more hours. Does that sound fair to you?’

  ‘Who can tell how the alien mind thinks?’ the President replied. ‘I intend to concentrate all our resources on hunting down these last ten. I’d suggest you do the same with yours. I know your police aren’t trained for combat with the cats any more than mine are, but you need all the help you can get.’

  ‘Well, I guess that is it, gentlemen,’ the French leader commented, and he too rose from his chair and, making his way past the American President, headed for the way out with his two bodyguards close behind, leaving the other two leaders to discuss things without him.

  At first Charles had felt sorry for the French leader. The aliens were communicating through English, so the French leader had to be at a slight disadvantage since it wasn’t his first language. However, he seemed to be doing all right.

  With the departure of the French leader, the conversation between the other two seemed to reach a hiatus. After a few more minutes, the American President climbed to his feet and with a bow took his leave from the room, closely followed by his bodyguards.

  When the door closed again behind the second bodyguard, the Prime Minister James Perry swiveled around in his chair to face his two bodyguards. ‘So what do you think of this meeting?’

  ‘I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to what was said,’ Charles commented simply, ‘but I’ve never liked this idea that we have any sort of deadline for fighting a war. To me that has always seemed counter-productive and prone to making mistakes.’

  ‘Agreed,’ said the second bodyguard, who today was Randolph Murphy, ‘and there seems to be no allowance for the fact that our cat problem is a lot larger and a lot more scattered than either of those in France or America. We have probably killed many times the number of those disposed of in the other countries, and yet we’re the ones that get chastised.’

  The Prime minister nodded. ‘My thoughts exactly. I’m not sure I like the way these talks are going, and I worry that we might find ourselves dancing to the Eschiff tune for the next few years or even fighting a war against them in order to keep our autonomy. It wouldn’t be good; they have better equipment than we do, better technology, and our two biggest allies, France and America, would have too much to lose by helping us.’

  ‘We must outnumber them,’ Rudolph commented. ‘How many warriors can they fit on one spaceship? I doubt they have two hundred people there. That wouldn’t be enough to keep even one small city under their thumb.’

  The Prime Minister nodded again. ‘Well, maybe they’ll have something else in mind. I can’t see us making even the new deadline, so I expect we’ll find out what they’re planning tomorrow.’

  ‘Sir,’ Charles commented, ‘we’re hardly experts. Why are you asking us what we think?’

  ‘The biggest problem a lot of leaders have is that they never ask the people that matter, the people on the front line. This is as true of business as it is of a lot of things. That’s not to say that your opinions are right, but it’s good to get extra perspectives of what’s going on. I’ll probably be discussing this with those experts again later, and I might bring up one or two of these points that you’ve made,’ the Prime Minister explained. He then turned to Rudolph and said, ‘Would you mind leaving us? I’m sure I’ll be quite safe with just Charles here watching my back, and I have a few questions especially for him.’

  ‘But of course, I’ll be just outside the door,’ Rudolph responded, and without another word he turned and left the room.

  ‘Take a seat,’ the Prime Minister said as he indicated the chair that had until recently been used by Pierre Hugot, the French leader.

  Charles obeyed the command, suddenly feeling very nervous. Why had the leader of his country singled him out for a special grilling?

  ‘You know I asked for your presence here personally.’

  Charles nodded. ‘I had heard that.’

  ‘So you understand I was putting a lot of faith in you when I asked you to come and be my bodyguard?’

  ‘Oh, er, yes sir,’ Charles responded.

  ‘Good,’ the Prime Minister told him. There was a quality about the way he spoke that reminded Charles a little bit of Starlight. ‘I ought to send this through normal channels and get your superior to find me the answers, but I prefer to know firsthand for myself, and as badly as these meetings are going at the moment, there’s a lot riding on them. And yesterday you seemed to be putting all that at risk.’

  ‘Sir?’ asked Charles, a little confused.

  ‘We are conducting dealings with a race of cat-like creatures, and yesterday you attacked two Herbaht who had somehow made their way onto the base. How did you know when you opened fire that it wasn’t the Eschiff you were firing upon? Let’s face it, until today you hadn’t even seen an Eschiff!’

  ‘They were disguised as humans, sir,’ Charles responded as if that ought to be good enough for anyone.

  ‘So you thought you were shooting at humans?’ asked the Prime Minister incredulously.

  ‘Sir, please,’ Charles commented, ‘although it’s not common knowledge in the press, I am Elite trained. I am well able to tell the difference between a human and a disguised Herbaht. It’s one of the reasons I was chosen for the mission. Besides, I didn’t shoot to kill and I only wounded one of them.’

  ‘So we could question them,’ the Prime Minister commented, ‘yes; I saw your report. Unfortunately we won’t be the ones questioning them.’

  ‘They were killed?’ Charles asked; he was only slightly surprised.

  ‘No, no,’ the Prime Minister responded, ‘but the Eschiff were quite insistent that the two prisoners should be handed over to them so, they claim, that they can be sure that they are disposed of properly and before the deadline.’

  ‘And you have another theory, sir?’ asked Charles.

  ‘Not really,’ the Prime Minister replied. ‘I am more interested in how they got here in the first place. There have been no shuttles in or out of the colony since you arrived, and I don’t think it’s likely that they could have been in hiding since then. The idea of a rogue shuttle has been suggested, landing well clear of the moon’s air locks. But then what happened to their space suits, and where is the shuttle, and why didn’t the Eschiff, who have a much greater field of vision than our scanners, do anything about it? It doesn’t add up. The only thing anyone has been able to think of was that they were prisoners on the alien ship to begin with and somehow they managed to escape. Perhaps their testimony would prove that the aliens aren’t keeping their word and are already making sorties to Earth.’

  ‘Then why weren’t they already dead? Especially since the Eschiff hate them so much. And how would they have gotten their disguises?’ Charles asked. ‘I’m sure the Eschiff don’t have anything like that around; why would they need it?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ the Prime Minister commented. ‘You’re right, it’s unlikely the Eschiff would give them anything to make themselves look human. And yet they were found so near to the place where the alien ship has docked that… Well, it almost feels as if the aliens want them just to stop us asking them awkward questions such as how did they find their way onto the moon.’

  Charles shrugged. ‘Without the prisoners, how would we know?’

  ‘They also want to know why you were so close to their ship. They get nervous of uninvited guests, and you were only about four corridors away with no other reason to even be in that part of the colony unless you were actively looking for the ship. I mean, seriously, there is nothing else in the area.’

  ‘I didn’t know the alien ship was close by,’ Charles assured him. ‘I had gone exploring and gotten lost. I think it was just fortune that caused me to happen across the path of those two cats.’

  The Prime Minister seemed to accept the excuse. ‘Well, supposedly you’re going to be off duty during tomorrow’s meeting, but since this is going to be after the deadline has elap
sed, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that something big is likely to be announced. I’d like you to be nearby. To be honest, I don’t trust these aliens.’

  ‘Me neither, sir,’ Charles agreed. He carefully avoided mentioning that he didn’t trust the Prime Minister either.

  ‘I want my best two men present as witnesses to the proceedings; I’m pretty sure that that’s you and Major Williams. The war we’re fighting against the Herbaht is long overdue, but technically it is the Eschiff’s war now, and we are little more than mercenaries fighting it for them in return for tidbits of technology. If the Eschiff want to get personally involved in the war, I will not stop them. Let them die trying to fight an enemy that can’t be seen most of the time.’

  ‘You can rely on me, sir,’ Charles told him, ‘so long as we’re not giving them control of the country.’

  The Prime Minster laughed, ‘Over my dead body.’

  44

  Back On Board

  Somehow things didn’t seem to be as bad as they could be. February had been placed in this cell about two hours ago with Kitty to keep her company. That was good for a start; the aliens could easily have separated the two, but for some reason they left them together where they could keep each other company and maybe comfort each other as to whatever was likely to befall them next.

  At no more than ten feet by eight feet, the cell was small and yet quite comfortable. It was almost certainly more comfortable than the cell that would have been waiting for them on Earth had they been sent to the Cattery instead of handed over to the Eschiff. The cell seemed to have more amenities than February felt she had a right to expect from a race that was actively trying to wipe her species out.