A Paradox in Retrograde

by Faherty, John

  "Yes, it's a fine job. How long would it take you to build another ten?" The smith again scratched his beard playing for time. "With some help, I could complete that order in three weeks time at the minimum." Ananda knew he could not afford to go lax on his men. He looked at the men squarely and in a voice tinged with anger said, "Unfortunately time is one luxury we do not possess. In three weeks your timetable will mean little for we shall all be dead. I'll allow you three days. You will be given all the materials and help you'll need. If however you have not completed this task we will be ill prepared for victory. For I assure you in three days time their fleet could easily be upon us."

  Meanwhile over this same period many plans had been put forth by Landaus and the others on which way they could best proceed with their plans to thwart Ananda. Ultimately they were of one accord they must stop the fleet of Nibaru where it lay by destroying it. For their plan to work they would require both the acquisition of the alien craft and the explosive charges, both held in and near the citadel. It was agreed that they could not by force of authority openly take what they needed. This would be seen as an overt treason. Instead they would by stealth reach for what they needed right from under their noses. Until this point they had felt it necessary to avoid as much of the goings on as their duties allowed. Or else they feared they may again fall to Ananda's spell.

  Now as the appointed hour approached and evenings dusk began to rule the sky they could delay no longer Landaus and Grunhuf approached the citadel of Breideblic on foot. Theywere a bit nervous for they feared their body language might somehow give away their intentions. However as they entered beneath the large outer door, they were surprised to find their presence there went largely unnoticed. The streets too were unusually deserted even for this late hour. They had imagined they would need to avoid the eyes of curious onlookers and over eager guards. Instead they found the citadel gates wide open and unattended. It would seem that the attention of all its citizenry had some how been stolen by way of their free will. They had hoped they had not been too late. For early on there was a way out of the situation, but there would be no convincing them of it now. They then would for now continue as planned. But they would have to do it alone. Carefully Landaus stepped through the threshold gate. Looking this way and that he could not believe the men he had hand picked and trained had abandoned their posts so readily. "When this is all over there will be some reprimands." Grunhuf was puzzled by this reaction and so asked, "Landaus, would I be correct to assume you would rather have had the resistance of your own guard?" Landaus filled with stifled emotion said,

  "You have to understand, the security of the citadel is our primary mission. If we can't even do that, then what good are we?" Grunhuf, who could just as likely as not give wise counsel, chose the former.

  "Landaus our mission is clear. There will be plenty of time to revise history and point fingers, when our job here is done. But for now, let's take this opportunity to get in, get what we need, and get out. You should be glad you didn't have a reason to kill one of those fine young men. That would have been far more difficult to deal with than an abandoned gate. Beside these men will be looking to you above all others when this is over. You must have faith as your father did."

  Landaus for a moment, let these words tumble through his mind. It was all true and it gave him comfort. He let out a deep breath and spoke.

  "Of course your right I may be over thinking this. Let's take advantage of this good fortune and get out of here." From their hiding place within the shadow of the arch, they made a quick dash toward the wall adjacent to the hall entrance. Taking position on either side of the entrance door they carefully craned their necks to observe the goings on within. Seeing that the coast was clear Landaus nodded to Grunhuf and whispered, "Let's move." They entered and in tandem and quickly moved across the open floor of the brightly lit space. There would be no hiding now. They would need to stay out of Ananda's sight however. For they wagered he would immediately recognize their plan for what it was. The others at this point would have no reason to yet question their presence. Having seen the space arranged thusly for the first time, it took them a moment to orientate themselves. Grunhuf spied the room wherein the charges were held. He gestured toward it while mouthing the words, "That's it."

  From a distance Landaus spied the doorway. He recognized the guard on duty to be private Lofton. He knew him to be a likable, good natured young fellow. He knew he would regret what he would have to do next. It however could not be helped if their plan were to move forward. The pair of them walked toward Lofton as nonchalantly as could be. Despite the fact that Grunhuf was sweating profusely they gave no indication to what would happen next. Lofton, as was the company fashion, clicked his heals and saluted his commanding officer as he approached.

  "Good evening Colonel, how can I help you?"

  Landaus with his right hand returned the gesture. A split second later instead of dropping his arm to his side, he threw a punch at the young private that struck him square in his unguarded jaw. The force of which was sufficient to send him careening to the ground unconscious. With eyes darting this way and that they quickly surmised that they had not been spotted. They scrambled to search the guards person to retrieve the ring of keys that he possessed. After a frantic moment they rolled him over and found them tied with a sash to the back of his belt. As Landaus untied the ring he apologized to the hapless private,

  "Sorry Lofton, I promise I'll make it up to you." Landaus was familiar with the guard's keys so they easily found the key they needed. The old tumbler clunked and rolled in response as the skeleton key was turned. One last clunk and the lock opened. They quickly grabbed Lofton by the shirt sleeves and dragged him into the storage room closing the door behind them.

  Once inside they scanned the shelves. There arranged were a collection of items most of which either of them had never before seen. Landaus said, "These were obviously artifacts collected from the wreckage. Somehow Ananda had considered them special enough to deserve being locked up out of view. All of these logically should then be weapons of some sort. Can you make any heads or tails out of it?"

  "We're here to find those charges. Oh, wait a minute, I just did." "Let me have a look there Grunhuf."

  Landaus came closer to have a look. "You certainly did. That was some grade A detective work." Grunhuf turned and shook his head though he displayed only mild amusement. It was however genuine. "Enough with the nonsense lets get this stuff wrapped up and get out of here."

  "Wait a minute Grunhuf. Aren't you even the slightest bit curious about all this, stuff?" "Yes but to be honest with you, I couldn't begin toidentify what those things might be."

  "Fair enough, I say we take a few samples and see if our new friend can identify them."

  They set themselves to filling the burlap sacks they had brought along with them with as many of the charges and other items as they could carry. They propped Lofton up against a post and proceeded to bind and gag him. Landaus hoped he would not have to knock him out for the second time. So was relieved when the ropes were secured.

  Grunhuf by now was growing more nervous by the moment. He urged now for a quick retreat. "It won't take long for him to go unnoticed. We should make a quick break for it." Landaus shook his head in agreement. "Ok let's go."

  Carefully they opened the door. There was no one there before them. Landaus turned his head from side to side. Itappeared that for the moment they were safe. Relieved, with bags in hand they wasted no time in making their way across the floor. The seconds dragged on as the hall floor now seemed miles wide. At long last they again retreated to the shadows, then out again through the unguarded gate.

  Meanwhile into the murky night Xora, with the young ones in tow, made her way to the place where Ananda had landed the ship. She was nervous but she was also determined to do her part. For the journey through the town she had dressed Leif in a long hooded robe so to disguise his appearance from prying eyes. It had worked well enough, for their
journey had raised not so much as an eyebrow. After some time they came upon the ship in the court yard before the gate. From the darkness hidden beside the citadel wall they studied their plan of action. Ananda had thought the ship important enough to station at least one guard there for its protection. The good news was that the guards were using the ship's control cabin as an impromptu guard station, so the cabin was unlocked. "How was one to get in there unnoticed, long enough to take control of the ship? That was the question." Though Xora puzzled over this long and hard, she could not yet arrive at a feasible solution. "I just don't know, I just can't walk up there and say, may we have your space ship please?" Ibsen was troubled by her lack of initiative thought to himself; I think I could come up with something.

  "Lady Xora why not allow me to act as a decoy to gain access to the cabin? I know all the guards by name, and they would have no reason to distrust my motives. I can get inside and a least give you an Idea of what we are dealing with." This seemed all very logical to her. It was by far a better plan than she had come up with. She was forced to by default allow it. "Ok, I don't like it, but it's all we've got right now."

  Ibsen was exuberant for he was up to the challenge. "I have another idea. What if while I'm occupying the guard our friend here helps me to knock him down the stairs?"

  A string of guttural noise came from Leif's that somehow was understood by them both. "I can understand what you're saying." He said, "I have for some time now. Seemingly this spirit of yours has given us the ability to communicate. And yes I will help you. I want nothing more than to get off thisplanet, and return to my home. If this can make it happen sooner, then I will do it. You go first and I will circle around the other way."

  Ibsen easily recognized the guard on duty to be corporal Lex. As he drew nearer toward the stair to the alien ship, Lex raised his musket and called out a warning. "Who is that? I am authorized to use force if necessary for you had better state your business." As Ibsen now in range of his weapon raised up his hands and said, "It is I, Ibsen." Upon recognizing young Ibsen his demeanor changed immediately. "What the devil are you doing out here Ibsen? Does your father know you're not in bed?"

  "My father as you know is far too busy right now to worry about me. Besides I wanted to come out and take a peek at this ship. I knew you were out here Lex, and I knew you wouldn't mind me having a look see for myself."

  "You know if I'd have tried half the things you get into when I was young I would have gotten a beating. I should call your father right now. But it will just be a waste of my time because you'll get to see it anyway. Alright Ibsen, come onup I'll give you five minutes." Ibsen wasted no time and raced up the stairs to the platform. "Remember Ibsen, not a word to anyone. Do you understand? He nodded his head in acknowledgement and entered through the opened airlock.

  Ibsen saw within the gleaming metal of the control panels and view screens that contained multiple readouts in a script he could not understand. There at the fore of the ship, two empty command chairs that sat before the crystalline view ports. He imagined here the pilots had been seated. He turnedtoward the rear of the ship and there were other seats clustered along the perimeter wall of the ship. He walked beyond and there were other more specialized compartments. Finally he made it to the rear of the ship, where in the engine compartments resided. Satisfied he found no one else aboard turned and walked toward the door. At the air lock entrance he called out to Lex drawing his attention from the stairwell. "Lex, could you help me with something?" Eager to be rid of the young Ibsen he turned toward him. "What is it now Ibsen? You're going to get me in trouble; I know it." Just then as his attention was turned from his duty, Leif made a quick and silent sprint up the stairwell. He positioned himself out of sight. Lex now standing at the top of the platform would be ill prepared for what happened next. Ibsen with all his might threw all his weight at the unsuspecting guard. Lex stepped backwards and was tripped up by Leif who was crouched low behind him. He was easily knocked from his feet and was now tumbling head over heels down the stairwell. Lady Xora was there at the bottom of the stairs to retrieve his musket. It was no matter because Lex having hit his head in the fall had been knocked unconscious. Lady Xora called out to them. "Come, hurry down here and help me bring him up into the ship. He can't be allowed to get up and call the alarm." Leif said in response,

  "Leave it to me." Leif leapt down the stairs, and lifted the unconscious guard over his shoulder. He moved swiftly. A moment later he was back within the cabin. He laid him unceremoniously out upon the cold metallic floor. Xora noted that the guard had sustained a rather serious head injury in the fall. She bent down and checked his eyes. It seemed to her that his pupils were dilating normally and so he was merely unconscious. Ibsen Asked with a twinge of guilt in his voice, "Is he going to be alright?"

  She responded as best she could, "Ibsen I'm no doctor, but it looks to me like he'll wake up with a pretty bad headache but he will be Ok. Alright boys we're not done here yet. I'm going to need you guys to strip off his uniform." She than began to undress herself as the boys looked on. "Come on now, we must hurry. We can't leave the ship unguarded and cause undue attention to ourselves." The boys still looked confused. "Do I need to explain everything to you? I'm going to pose as the guard." A light of understanding came on and they quickly got to work. In short order the guard was stripped, bound and gagged. Xora masquerading as the guard then took her place at the watch.

  Standing alone atop the stairwell she kept a watchful eye on anything that moved. Though she managed skillfully tomaintain her ardor, internally she was a wreck of nerves. Nearly half an hour had passed since she took her watch and there was still no sight of Landaus or Grunhuf. Suddenly at long last two ungainly figures wandered from the darkness. Both were heavilyladen with burlap sacks. After another moment she identified them. It was them, they had made it. She called out to the boys. "Boys they're here, come help them with their bags." A moment later the boys had made their way to the stairwell landing while Xora kept a close eye with the musket ready. Another tense moment later they were all puffing and panting at the top of the stairs with charges securely aboard. Xora was glad her guard duty was over. But she was more pleased they had both returned in one piece. "I was beginning to worry about you two."

  Landaus looked on her dressed in a corporal's uniform a little shocked by her appearance and said, "I must say you are full of surprises, Xora. Thanks for your concern. It looks as if you gotten everything under control here." She accepted the thanks but said,

  "I appreciate the thought Landaus but it was the two boys who did most of the work. He turned to see Corporal Lex just about to wake from his trauma induced slumber. Squarely he gazed at the groggy soldier and said, "Dereliction of duty thatdraws a stiff penalty. I'm going to have to bust you down to private." He could maintain a serious expression on his face for only a moment. After which he burst into laughter at the corporal's expense. Soon all had engaged in a short respite from their anxiety with a well deserved laugh; all of course except for Lex.

  Back at the hall, at just about that same time the guard shift responsibilities were about to end. Eager to impress his superiors Corporal Harris had made it to work early. There upon arrival to his relief post at the armory he found it unmanned. After a quick inspection the door was found to be locked. The guardsman had not the key to open the door, so he summoned the sergeant. He caught the attention of one of the passersby and asked them to summon the sergeant of the guard. After answering the call sergeant Collins and a team of guardsman arrived there upon the scene few minutes later. He was immediately greeted there by Harris with a frantic story. "Sergeant Collins something has happened the guard has gone missing."

  Collins many years his elder urged the man to calm himself, "Harris now settle down there has to be a reasonable explanation. Now stand back and let’s have a look." Usinghis own set of master keys he unlocked and opened the door.

  There to his shock he found Lofton struggling to free himself. The gu
ards rushed in and with their knives cut the ropes that bound him. He removed the gag that had muted him and blurted out; "It was Colonel Landaus, and the Lord Mayor. They surprised me, knocked me out and tied me up."

  Harris again filled with purpose now stood up and tried to make his way toward the exit. As he moved he spoke making his intentions clear, "We must warn Ananda." The sergeant stopped him. "Now hold on there just a moment before you do that. Think for a moment. Why would our commanding officer feel the need to come in here in such a manner? There is something odd going on here."

  Impatient with line of questions, the other guard said, "It doesn't matter. Obviously the Colonel is now a traitor. We must warn Ananda." The guard made another move to leave and the sergeant this time drew his sword and blocked his exit with it. "You'll do no such thing! Do you here me? Let's take a moment to look at this logically. It appears to me hat the Colonel must have had a very good reason do what he did. Until I know what that is you're not going to say a word to anybody. If you don't like that, I can kill you right here where you stand." The Sergeant looked deeply into the young private's eyes as he spoke those words. He knew he was not bluffing.

  "Help Lofton get up." The sergeant ordered briskly. As he rose he spoke to him. "Are you alright son?"

  "I think so sir." "Good, now until I say it's ok, I don't want you to breathe a word of this to anybody. That goes for all of you. We will not give up our loyalty that easily, is that understood?"

  Chapter 12

  They all for a moment took a deep sigh of relief for the ship having been secured now stood ready for the second phase of their plan. The others kept a watch through the ships view screens as Landaus tried to make sense of the layout. Making his way toward the cock pit along a long narrow corridor he found there at its end the pilot’s chair. He stared quizzically as he looked upon the controls set in front of him. To this array of dials and blinking switches, he could not begin to fathom a purpose nor assign a function. It bothered him that he would need now to trust the safety of himself and his son merely on the words of an apparition. Despite his reluctance he was committed, for there would be no second chances. Hesitantly he lowered himself into the command chair.