*
Thoughtfully, they flew in silence for a hundred miles or so then split up, both heading first for the northern most cities.
Both glided silently over the cities, timed for the middle of the long night. They should be hard to spot despite the moons. They hoped. Nearing the cities, both calculated it carefully, checking for wind and allowing for drift. Both had done this type of warfare before but had carefully concealed this from all but Mathew. They had never used the gas though, just chemicals and other, non lethal, biological warfare. They timed it carefully, opening the valve in the cockpit and letting out the virus. Both successfully dosed their two designated cities and headed back.
Now relaxed, both found themselves wanting to sleep and losing concentration. The hours wore on as they fought to stay low and safe. Both these goals seemed mutually incompatible! It was with great relief they got back into communicator range.
“How’d you go?”
“Done.”
“Me too.”
“I’m stuffed.”
“Me too.”
They flew the rest of the way in silence. Both happy to know the other was there but too tired to talk. Several times Az felt himself almost going to sleep and jerked himself awake. How was he going to get through another five nights of this? Mathew had promised them a night off after the second parasite drop.
Az brought the plane to a halt and slumped over the controls, shaking with fatigue. He looked up, then opened the cockpit door as Li hammered on the side of the plane under his seat. She leapt up and scrambled in crying nearly hysterically and tried to get into his lap. He leaned back to give her room.
“Li stop. I’ve had it. I have to sleep.”
He looked into her face and saw the disbelief, rejection, fear and tears.
“Oh God,” he thought, “I’ve stuffed this one up.” He tried again. “Li you know I love you. You want me I’m yours. I’ll go anywhere with you. But unless we go to Petislay, we have to deal with your laws. Kelly tells me if I touch you I’m breaking your laws.”
“I don’t care! I’m old enough now anyway. I’m 16. It was my birthday a few days ago. I want you! I Choose you! I’m coming with you. I can’t stand to be apart! You might have been dead and I wouldn’t know!”
Az looked her, so tired he could hardly think. But he’d heard! He forced his brain to work.
“Then come with me tonight. See what I’m like smelly, bad tempered and tired. You still want me, I accept. Heck I accept anyway. What am I thinking? We’ll sort out the details later. Now, we have a war to fight.”
Li looked at him. “It’s OK with you if I come?”
“Yes. I need someone to help me stay awake. You come.”
She smiled, “You sure do stink.”
Az looked over and with relief saw Kaz landing. He dragged himself out of the plane and went off to find somewhere quiet to sleep. As he saw Simone come running over he said, “All done. Fill her up please,” and he headed to bed.
Waking up, he dragged himself out of bed and after the necessary, he went towards the kitchen to be stopped by Li who was waiting for him. She beckoned. He followed her and found she had located a tub of sorts. The room looked like a preparation room for food but she had found a whole lot of water heaters and had them all going. She quickly partly filled the tub and added lots of cold water. At least there wasn’t much water in it.
“Get in.”
Very embarrassed, he quickly stripped off and got in, his back to her. He couldn’t blame her. He stank cooped up in that cockpit and sweating for hours. Nothing he could do about it he’d thought. No power, no Cleaners. He hoped someone would find out how to get the power back on. But what a primitive way to get clean. These Terrans seemed to love it. It was nicer this way with just Li doing it. He had been so embarrassed when three of them had washed him! Using some kind of hard thing that smelled nice, she sluiced him down with a container of water and washed his back. He glanced at her. She was enjoying his embarrassment and grinning from ear to ear! He groaned as she kept washing his back and she laughed out loud. He had to keep his hands in front! At least she turned away when he washed his front. She sluiced him down then motioned to him to get out while she held out a cloak for him to use for a towel.
“Not bloody likely,” he said. “Turn around!”
She buckled over with laughter but did so. He towelled himself down awkwardly getting the principal right but unsure how to reach his back. Li reached from behind and took the towel off him, rubbing his back and legs down, still laughing. Quickly, he grabbed some clothes and put them on thankfully covering up the biggest erection he’d ever had. Like heck she was too young! She knew exactly what she was doing! And what effect it was having on him!
“I’ve found two lots of clothes for you. Those will get a bit wet so you can put some dry ones on later. How on earth do you stay clean with all that fur?”
“We have Cleaners!”
“In every home?”
“Yes.”
“But aren’t they really expensive to buy and run? Helkmid says they are.”
“Well yes but they take seconds and you go in with your clothes on and get them clean too.”
“This is more fun!”
Az looked at the mischief in her face. Her face was so full of emotion and so easy to read. That was one advantage of her being a Terran female. Niseyen females were so different. What was his mother going to make of her? He realised, like Li, he had accepted that they were now together. Li looked more secure, older and more assured. She certainly knew how to handle him. He doubted any Petislay girl would ever have treated him like that. Not under any circumstances.
“Life with you is going to be interesting,” he said.
She smiled at him and took his hand, leading him to the dining room. At least they liked similar foods and liked some foods hot. He couldn’t think of any other Race that liked food hot except for the Zeobani and Okme.
As they entered the dining room, he tried furtively to slide his hand out of Li’s but she was wasn’t having it.
As he feared, a few minutes later he saw Kelly heading their way. Now he was for it. He could read the expression on her face.
“Stella tells me she and Li are going with you two tonight.”
This wasn’t what he expected. He thought quickly, “It’s exhausting flying so many hours without a break. I nearly went to sleep several times. The girls will keep us awake, especially on the last bit over the sea on the way home.”
“Don’t you have an auto-pilot?”
“Not at that height. Auto won’t engage under 5000 feet and won’t do that unless the terrain is flat. We have to fly the whole way manually.”
“Oh. Can’t you find someone else to go with you? It’s risky to take the girls.”
“I know but they volunteered. Someone has to go with us or we wont last the distance.”
“What if I go with you instead?”
“You could come too. But Li would be much more chatty and that’s the whole point. She sure can talk. I need her to keep me alert.”
He could see that Kelly didn’t want this but couldn’t think of an excuse to stop it. She could see the sense in it, as he explained it. There were also a lot of interested and amused eavesdroppers.
Very unhappy, she finally went away. A bit later he saw Kaz come in with Stella and Donny. They came over, Kaz somewhat behind as he loaded up his plate with food.
“Mathew has decided we are to take two Terran pilots with us each mission. They’ll fly the easy bits giving you a rest,” said Stella who had been concerned and gone to talk to Mathew. Mathew had immediately got the point, although not a pilot himself. Stella had also been busy with something else. She impatiently waited for Az to finish his food. As Kaz came over, Az noticed to his great amusement that he also had had a bath.
“Switch off,” he said quietly and turned off his Translator as Kaz complied. “Eyes front. Li’s Chosen me,” and he switched his Translator ba
ck on. He didn’t care about the massive social custom breach that he had just committed. No one had noticed except Li and Stella. Kaz smiled widely his eyes dancing. Az was betting Stella knew. Looks like she hadn’t told Kaz though.
Finally Az finished his meal and was dragged off towards his plane by Stella and Li. They followed him in as he looked in astonishment. Someone had removed what must have been an added bulkhead and opened up the aircraft. He could walk from the cockpit into the cabin and it had been cleaned out, seats put in, a bag to lie down on and cupboards. He checked. Everything was done properly and attached to the plane. This was hours of work. It looked balanced too. There were food and water containers in the cupboards, utensils and cups and plates. He was a little sad it wouldn’t be just him and Li but this was much better and safer. He could rest.
“Con knows how to build motor homes. Con, Akira and Nial did all this today with help from a few others. They’ve been flat out. There’s a loo but no bathroom yet. They’ll start on that tomorrow. Some others did Kaz’s plane with Con supervising.”
Az looked behind a cloak and saw what was rather obviously a sort of loo. Well the girls weren’t equipped to use the cockpit one. He had been wondering what to do about that.
He automatically started his checks externally. Everything looked good. The tanks were full. He had slept so long that it was nearly time to leave again. Tonight would be very different. And so it was. But Az laid out the conditions before they left.
“This is a war and this plane a weapon. You all do as I say. No mucking about in the cockpit. Keep quiet and don’t distract me while we’re over land. No noise or distractions from the cabin either, especially while we’re over land. Everyone behaves. If I don’t like the way you fly you get out of the cockpit.”
“Yes sir,” was the chorus as they all got in. The atmosphere was very different but they all jumped to it when he gave orders. The flight didn’t seem so long. He navigated, occasionally checking while first Helene and then Nial took turns flying over the water. Li behaved very well to his relief. She got food and drinks, generally helped and was silent, as were the others, for the hours when he flew over the land ‘on the deck’ as the Terrans put it. They behaved like military. Actually, better than most. Az found this unsettling. They were civilians but they acted more military than most of the soldiers he had fought with.
Again, he glided over two cities, a repeat dose for the biggest city, releasing the virus, then turned towards home. As he reached the sea, he turned over the plane to his two co-pilots and went in to the cabin. Li served him food and drink and they talked quietly. With the others within earshot, they were very discrete. Az decided to lie down and went quickly and unintentionally to sleep. Some time later Li shook him awake. Hearing an alarming tone in Helene’s voice, he was instantly up and in the cockpit before he realised he had moved. Helene pointed to a light that was flashing,
“What’s that?”
Az swore. Quickly he got Nial out of the pilot’s seat and sat down. He checked the altitude and dropped the plane even lower. Now it was skimming the waves.
“That’s a scanner. Not sure what kind. How long have I been asleep?”
“Two to three hours,” said Li who was behind him.
He switched on the communicator, “Kaz, you there?”
“Yep.”
“Scanner. Get down.”
“Way ahead of you. I’m a few minutes away, ahead of you.”
“Everything go all right?”
“Yeah.”
Az checked the Navigator. He was only an hour or so away from home.
“What should we do?” asked Kaz.
Az thought carefully. He looked at Helene. “How long was that light on for?”
“I saw it as soon as it came on.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“OK. Kaz, do nothing. Carry on. With a bit of luck they’ll think it was a mistake. How long was the light on before you dropped down?”
“A couple of minutes. Con is certain he saw it as soon as it came on. He’s adamant.”
“OK. Keulfyd do nothing without a supervisor. By the time one turned up we couldn’t be seen. I hope. I’d give anything to know what type of scanner they have and how good the operator is. This time of the night, probably a junior.”
“Az are you the older brother?” asked Helene.
“Yes, why?”
“Oh just wondering. Is that scanner on a ship or on the ground?”
“Can’t tell but almost certainly it’s on a ship.”
“So the curvature of Torroxell wont help us but how come flying so low means you can’t be detected? This isn’t radar is it?”
“I don’t know what radar is. Cheap scanners get confused when an object is very close to the ground because buildings and rocks on the land interfere with the signal of this plane. Over the sea the signal also gets confused when you fly low but I can’t remember why. Some scanners get confused when an object moves fast; the ones that look for People. Cheap scanners that is. I don’t know what they have. There are so many different kinds.”
“What if this is not a cheap scanner?”
“They’ll still be tracking us and they’ll shoot us down,” he answered truthfully.
There was silence while everyone on both planes absorbed that. Az realised in horror that Li was behind him. He turned and looked at her. She looked back, alert, tense, but not looking afraid!
“I’m sorry, I forgot you were there.”
“That’s OK. I’d rather know the truth. I’m not afraid when I’m with you. I’m afraid when I don’t know what’s happening to you. I fell to pieces yesterday because you were later than Mathew and you two had calculated you would be and I thought you were dead. I panicked. I might never have known what had happened to you.”
“Ah, am I missing something here?” asked Nial. “Aren’t you a bit young for this Li?”
“No!” said Li and Az together, Az with a little more emphasis.
Helene laughed.
“Does Kelly know about this?” asked Nial.
“Am I still alive?” Asked Az and they all laughed.
“I’ve Chosen Az,” Li said quietly. “He’s my husband now.” There was silence as Nial and Helene absorbed this. Li had spoken too quietly for the other plane to hear. “Please, don’t tell Kelly yet. We have enough to think about.”
“Oh. Az, in your culture, who tells Kelly?”
Az smiled. “Li,” he said.
“Ok,” said Li, “I’ll stand behind you when I tell her.”
They all laughed again. Az wondered about these Terrans. They could get shot down any minute and they were laughing. And they were all civilians. If this was how civilians acted, what were their warriors like? These Terrans were tough.
“How good are our chances?” Li asked him.
“I honestly don’t know. It always was a risk but we weren’t detected last night so I thought we might get away with it. We still might. We’re still flying and the light has gone out. That might mean nothing. One scanner may have located us and another type might be tracking us now.”
“Will we risk the others if we land near them?”
“I think if we don’t get shot down that will mean they’ve lost us. Flying over land is safer and we are more difficult to track. Land is only an hour away.”
“You’re not afraid,” Az said to Li.
“Well we all thought there would be a risk. It’s easier to be here with you than waiting and not knowing. We have something we call radar and another detector that works in water. We also have other detectors so we figured the Keulfyd would have them too.”
“You have a detector that works through water?”
“Yes, sonar. Why? Don’t you?”
“No. Does that mean you can attack from on water?”
“Yes. And under it.”
“What do you mean under it?”
“We have submarines. Ships that travel under water or
under ice. They have to have a detection system or they could hit icebergs or land.”
Az looked at her in astonishment. He thought about the implications of that. And what would happen if marine planets found out. Some fish were very aggressive.
The light stayed out, there were no more indications of detection but they didn’t relax until they got onto the ground. The sun was just coming up and the violets of the sunrise were beautiful. Mathew was there.
“Good flight?” he asked Az.
Az explained about the scanner adding he had concluded that the scanner was cheap but he could be wrong and their presence may have been detected. Mathew grunted, “well, that’s a risk. Not much we can do about it.”
Simone came over, “We’ve converted one of the buildings into a hanger for the planes. Kaz said they won’t be able to scan into a building. Is that right?”
Az looked in astonishment as he watched Kelly taxi Kaz’s plane into a building and then head for his.
“Breakfast is ready,” said Mathew and they all headed off for the kitchen via the ‘bathroom.’
As they were finishing, Simone came in and said, “We’ve organised some quiet bedrooms up there for all you night shifters and she lead them all up the ramp and into a darkened corridor. Some sort of fabric was over the windows. She showed them into several rooms made up with the things the Terrans called ‘bean bags’ for mattresses. There were also some covers to go over the bags and more fabric already over the room’s windows.
Az yawned and noticed to his amusement that several others were yawning too. Kelly had followed them up and supervised Stella, Helene and Li in one room while the boys shared the other several rooms. Kelly kissed the girls goodnight and left. After she had disappeared, Li got up, looked around until she located the room Kaz and Az were sharing and slid in beside Az. Kaz sighed, picked up his bag and moved to find another room.
Li yawned and snuggled in. The bags were very big and ample size for both of them. Az wondered what he should do now and then realised a minute later to his astonishment that Li had gone to sleep! Oh well. At least he didn’t have to worry about what to do next. He looked down at her. He had never felt so alive as among these Terrans. Their females were astonishing. He yawned.
Several hours later, he awoke to find Li still sound asleep. He guessed she had not slept the first night he had flown. He lay there watching her sleep and drifted off to sleep himself again.
Several hours later, waking again, he urgently had to get up, but bags were not designed to get out of easily. He rolled out, trying not to wake her and headed for the bathroom. Returning, he saw her in the corridor heading in the opposite direction probably on the same mission. These Terrans insisted on one bathroom for females and one for males. Another puzzle he hadn’t worked out.
Kaz gave him a stare when Li and he turned up very late for food. He wasn’t about to tell his little brother that he’d spent all night (day) with Li and nothing had happened. He suddenly had an awful thought; did Terrans mate in water? That would be a romance ended before it started! He couldn’t exactly ask either.
Bugs
Checks finished, Az noticed that there were two different pilots tonight, Akira and Mayling. Tonight, he was loaded with the additional virus for the Opodskell and Trydshell all compatible and in the same tank. This night was uneventful. No scanner alert, no other problems and the plane now had a bathroom. Again, he managed a quick sleep during the flight. Again, all the Terrans accepted his authority and quickly obeyed every order. And again Li sneaked into his bed in the morning but they just slept. They were both exhausted with the long hours and Li was having fewer nightmares.
The third night, Simone, (who was in charge of loading the virus solution along with Helkmid), told him, “the Vubicik virus has been added to the mix as it’s ready but Helkmid has no idea how long it will take to work. But it’s the only thing he has that will affect the Vubicik.”
This night, his pilots were Miyuki and Jolene. Also on board were Rani and Bella, and Ali and his father Mohammed. Each pair equipped with food, parasite canisters and enough to keep them for two days. He landed and dropped each pair a days walk from each of the cities he was targeting tonight. He found it hard to believe that little Bella was to try to get the parasites inside the city border. Li was also perturbed.
Alien Alliance Page 33
