by A K Lambert
She closed her eyes and focussed. The octopod shimmered a ghostly silver form, as did Krankel and the rock, the bushes and the small lake. The imprints remained shades of green. She grabbed the first one, her mind’s eye locking onto to it and propelling it towards the Channel. Slowly at first, but managing a steady acceleration. It popped out of existence as it passed through the small rift.
She grabbed the second one. There were five now.
Moving too slowly. Lock. Extract. Export.
She concentrated on the thoughts the octopod generated. She locked, extracted and transported them along the now familiar route to the Channel. Again and again and again. She was pleased with her progress dealing with all of the darker and medium green imprints. Only the light green ones faded away unsent.
The octopod was relentless. As soon as a thought imprint was removed or disappeared, it was replaced by another. They reappeared faster than Grace could grab them.
She began to panic but reminded herself the test might be unbeatable. She had to stay focused for as long as possible.
This task is easier than expected, she thought as she whipped the little packages off to the rift. But then she saw something in the corner of her eye. At the rift, a large number imprints hadn’t entered. There was an almighty jam. A green mosaic of imprints all nudging and bumping one another.
How did that happen?
Grace’s ego deflated. She vainly tried to move some of the ones closest to the rift. Gridlocked. She opened her eyes, and it all disappeared. She put her hands to her face in despair.
I’m never going to be able to do it.
But the holo room wasn’t going to let her mope. Stepping dramatically out of the lagoon a mythical Swamp Troll leered at her. It was over ten feet tall, and seeping green puss from most of its body. It carried an axe in one hand and a stunted sword in the other, and voiced a guttural bellow.
Krankel’s mind opened up to Grace and he stood, growling at the troll.
Grace knew that she would have to fight this beast with her mind, its strength far too much for her. Again, she needed time.
“Krankel, with me.”
She ran around the water’s edge away from the troll. She made a pressure node, stood on it and hovered over the lake, keeping clear of the geyser.
“Keep away from the beast, Krankel.”
She knew she could avoid the beast indefinitely. But she needed to demonstrate a method of dealing with this situation. She would try and reason with it.
‘What do you want Mr. Troll? I am not your enemy.’
‘Thudder hungry.’
The troll turned back to the water and stepped in.
‘Mr. Troll, there are much tastier things to eat than me. I will give you indigestion. The fruit of the mango bush behind you is sweet and will cure the sores on your body.’
‘Thudder want meat.’
He was in up to his waist. His droopy belly seemed to float on top of it. The troll was halfway to her position, so she moved out of lunging range.
‘There is no meat on me Mr. Troll. You would still be hungry and would have wasted your time.’
‘Thudder has lots of time.’
Grace manoeuvred to the far side of the lake, stepped off the node and collapsed it. She quickly formed a new one, cone-shaped, and directed it towards the troll, point first.
A change in strategy.
‘Mr. Troll. You can’t defeat me. I am invincible.’
She started prodding it with the node. It bellowed at this invisible attack. Grace stopped.
‘I can destroy you anytime, Mr. Troll, but I won’t. I like you, Mr Troll. We can be friends. Is there a Mrs. Troll and baby trolls?’
The troll was out of the water now, still batting the unseen attack. It looked at Grace, menacing and full of evil intent. Krankel was at her side, snarling, aware of the danger. Ready to die for his mistress.
‘No Mrs. Troll. Just Thudder.’
It raised the axe and with surprising speed for one so big, charged her.
Krankel reacted immediately, racing towards the troll.
‘Krankel!’
He ignored her, the urge to protect her too strong. He leapt onto a rock to give him the height he would need to reach the troll’s head. But Grace could see the arc of the trolls axe heading straight to Krankel’s stance. She focussed hard and formed a time acceleration bubble. It worked, but it was too soon after the last one. Time hadn’t fully reset, she would only have seconds to act.
Everything froze. Krankel was only six feet from the axe.
Another node to deflect the axe, thought Grace. But she was exhausted. No test had ever taxed her this much. She doubted herself. She questioned her right even to be a princess. This cost her valuable seconds. When she pulled herself together, she imagined the wedge shape node she would need, and where to position it for maximum effect. She broke the bubble and set the node in place.
Back in real time, the axe headed inexorably toward the dog. The wedge worked, but only to a degree. The pure strength of the troll’s massive arm overcame the deflective resistance of the wedge. The axe struck Krankel and sent him flying into the bushes.
Grace saw a limp Krankel sprawled under a bush, lifeless, and she cracked.
She glared at the troll, eyes murderous, forming another cone-shaped pressure node—long and thin, a weapon.
‘You…’
She could easily accelerate it straight into the troll. A fatal blow.
Then a voice.
“Tauriar!”
She hesitated. Just long enough to come back to her senses. She dropped her guard and calmed herself. The troll bore down on her, its body fading away as it passed through her.
She fell to her knees, exhausted, and the room changed back to the staff dining room full of blue holo screens. She wanted to cry. She had failed on so many levels, but the fact that she was unable to protect Krankel hit her hardest.
She fought back the tears, sat up on her knees and put her arms behind her head. Krankel was first, snuggling his large shaggy muzzle into her. She dropped her arm around the big dog’s neck, taking some solace that in reality, he was all right.
William and Katie were next to reach her, holo headwear off, and helped her to her feet.
‘Well done,’ said William. ‘You did great.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Grace. ‘I failed miserably.’
Katie smiled. ‘The no-win scenario. You were never going to win. It’s a test of how you cope with defeat.’
The following day was a bank holiday, and Grace and Jon were strolling through the grounds of Harewood Hall. The sun was shining, but this early in the year was still weak, so they were both wearing warm jumpers, scarfs and woolly hats. Krankel followed closely behind them, though he wasn’t his usual exuberant self.
‘This hat causes havoc with my holographic hair,’ Grace complained.
Jon laughed. ‘So switch it off, why don’t you. I very much doubt you’re even feeling the cold. I don’t mind which Grace I walk with.’
‘I am cold,’ she replied, giving him an indignant look. She moved her arm from his and fiddled with the hat again. ‘Jon. There’s something I want to talk to you about.’
Jon took his hands out of his trouser pockets and rubbed them together to warm them. ‘This sounds serious,’ he said, smiling.
She turned to face him. ‘It’s about everything the gang were grilling you about on Friday.’ She paused for a moment. ‘I agree with them. I think you should go and race professionally. Follow your dream.’
Jon didn’t reply. He put his hands back in his pockets and pushed his elbow out slightly, waiting for Grace’s arm. She obliged and they carried on strolling.
‘I’ve been thinking seriously about it for a while, but didn’t want to leave you. Now, though, I know you have a great bunch of friends to support you, and I don’t think I’ll be missed too much.’
‘Oh you’ll be missed all right,’ Grace said, snuggling closer to him
. ‘My sweet alien brother heading off into the big bad world. I’m more worried about you than me.’ She looked up at him and smiled. ‘It’s just a shame your telepathic abilities are so rubbish, I might have been able to keep in touch. We’ll have to spend a fortune on mobile phone calls and roaming charges.’ She kept smiling, knowing he rarely rose to her insults.
‘Okay, I’ll contact the team’s manager and see if they still want me.’
‘Of course they’ll want you. And Mandy has already told me that she’ll happily donate her handlebar basket to help you go faster.’
Jon laughed loudly. ‘That doesn’t surprise me.’
‘And Krankel will miss you.’
Jon looked back at the dog. ‘I’ll miss him too.’
Krankel appeared much more interested in chasing a nearby squirrel, but suddenly he perked up, looked at Jon and bounded over, jumping up and draping his front paws over Jon’s shoulders.
‘You’re in his head again, causing trouble,’ Jon complained.
It took a mock mini fight to settle Krankel down
They carried on walking, joking about this and that, and throwing sticks for Krankel when Jon asked, ‘You haven’t said much about yesterday. William told me you did excellently, but that you still doubt yourself.’
‘It’s not that. When I think of some of the things I did well, I’m pretty pleased with my performance. All Royals have this test at my age and are never told its real purpose until afterwards. After a night of reflection, I’m more at peace with myself, and life in general. It’s just...’ Grace paused.
Jon waited a few moments then said, ‘It’s just what, Grace?’
She moved in closer to him, her face turned downwards. ‘When the troll killed Krankel, I forgot for a moment that I was in the holo-room and none of it was real. I wanted to kill it. And would have done if I hadn’t been distracted by someone calling my name.’
‘But you did stop. It was part of the test, and you passed. Don’t beat yourself up. I’m sure Douglas thought it right to distract you, to give you that split second you needed.’
‘It wasn’t Douglas.’ She looked up at Jon.
‘But none of the others have the ability to do that, do they?’ Jon looked confused.
‘No, they don’t. But it wasn’t him. He hasn’t mentioned it, and besides, I’ve had him in my head since I was a little girl. It wasn’t him.’ Grace continued, ‘I thought it might have been a member of the High Council, but if they’d found a way to contact us they’d be updating us on the situation on Preenasette, and whether it was safe to go home. No, it wasn’t them either.’
‘Well, who the hell was it?
‘I wish I knew.’
Chapter 23
Zanders Concerns
Preenasette - Trun Rizontella - 2010
* * *
Domantry Zander entered the main living area of his apartment. The motion sensor picked him up and set the lighting to a soft, welcoming background level; the heater hub began glowing. As the door closed behind him, he felt relaxed and secure for the first time today.
He removed his cape, unclipped his body armour and stretched, the sensation of muscles and sinew releasing from their cramped confines was exquisite. He sighed, opened the drinks cabinet and poured himself a large Campion whisky.
‘That terrible was it?’ His wife Roseanne strolled into the room in her dressing gown, carrying their two-year-old baby girl. ‘Christiana has been waiting for you. There’s no way I can get her to sleep.’ On seeing her father, she threw out her arms to him. He sipped his drink, put it down and took his daughter.
‘Why aren’t you asleep, young lady?’ he said sternly. It had no effect. He kept whole squadrons of men and women in perpetual fear, but these two women made him melt. He leant over, kissed Roseanne and whispered, ‘We need to talk, my wife.’
She raised an eyebrow. ‘Let’s get your little girl to sleep and you can tell me what’s on your mind.’
A few minutes with her father had done the trick, and Christiana was asleep.
After putting his daughter to bed, Zander took a shower. The red-hot, ice-cold oscillation of the water temperature assaulted the nerve endings of his skin, stimulating his senses and elevating his heart rate and breathing. Only when the drying cycle had finished gently soothing him did he relax entirely, a calmness that had eluded him all day. He slipped on his dressing gown, returned to the sofa in the living room and resumed sipping his whisky. Roseanne had prepared him a snack.
‘So, what’s concerning you, my darling?’
Zander looked at her, searching for the right words. The reflections from the flickering firelight made him want to dive into the dark blue depths of her eyes and lose himself. Make his problems disappear.
‘There’s a force at work, an evil force, deep within the core of our society. I can feel it, manipulating our every move. With one aim, to escalate the war.’
Roseanne was startled. ‘Tell me more.’
‘I don’t know. There are lots of little things, undefined but palpable. A war to remove the Vercetian’s threat is turning into a war to annihilate them completely.’
‘So, what is tangible?’
‘Well, take computer led offensives. At this evening’s meeting, the Council Inner Circle passed a motion from the new Minister for Technological Strategies to increase the scope of computer driven attacks. That was my responsibility and they’ve taken it from me. We know from past experience that Artificial Intelligence is a useful tool but should not be left to think for itself. That is where we are now heading. The possibility of more bloodshed will increase substantially. Mistakes will be made, civilians targeted in error. Soldiers’ wives and children killed. The whole landscape of the war starts to change.’
Roseanne leant forward and put a soothing hand on his shoulder. She could feel him shaking with anger. ‘I’m starting to see, my darling. So they start targeting our civilians.’
‘Yes, and I’m worried about you and Christiana.’
They both went quiet, deep in thought.
Eventually, Zander continued, ‘This war has always been carried out on a military level. We don’t target civilians, and neither do they. There have been some bloody battles in the last two hundred or so years, but it’s been soldier fighting soldier. Now the rulebook is being thrown aside.’
‘Surely, you still have influence in the Inner Circle, to steer them back on course.’
‘My authority as Supreme Commander is being undermined. They’re taking Mancer from me, sending him on an off-world mission. He’ll be away for years. They’re isolating me.’
He watched his wife unconsciously run her nails over the intricate patterns of her head cap, her eyes distant. She stood up and looked straight into his eyes.
‘We start planning tomorrow. But for now, let’s retire, my darling. Our daughter is asleep, I’m wide awake, and it feels like I haven’t seen you for days.’
She leant over and kissed him tenderly, stood up and released her robe, letting it drop to the floor. She smiled at him, holding the moment for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the bedroom. Zander sat back, studying her sublime silhouetted shape, gliding gracefully across the floor. She had parked this problem for now, and it was time for him to do the same. He finished the last drop of his whisky, stood up and followed her.
Chapter 24
Mandy & Mom
Earth - London, England - 2010
* * *
Amanda Walker returned with another bottle of the exquisitely fruity Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc. She was with her mother at one of their favourite bars, drinking their favourite tipple. Its odd name first attracted them to the elegant wine. On her budget, it wouldn’t have been her first choice, but as her mother would more than likely pick up the bill, she was delighted to partake. They didn’t find their diaries matching up these days often enough, so they both treasured these girlie meet ups. They were within spitting distance of the House of Commons, in the Red Lion publi
c house. There was an early evening buzz to the place with all sorts winding down after a hard day working in Westminster. Amanda tried to squeeze through a group of men riveted to the story been told by a colleague. His voice was nearly as loud as his bright red corduroy trousers. A white silk shirt and a brown tweed waistcoat with a flaming red back tamed the trousers to acceptable office apparel—a little eccentric, but this was London. As he revealed the punch line, Amanda almost had the bottle knocked out of her hand by one of the group. He immediately apologised to her and then gave Ann a little nod of apology too. Her mother smiled at him, and he turned back to his friends. Her mother, the Right Honourable Ann Walker MP was now a cabinet minister. Amanda knew this was one of the few places where she could sit with friends or family and blend into the background. Everyone here was leaving the highs and lows of the day behind, and in the most part extended the same courtesy to others, be they a famous politician or the office junior.
‘I’d rather be on one of Dad’s Amazon treks, I think,’ Amanda said, sliding into her seat. ‘Though I doubt there would be any wine there.’
She watched her mother top up the glasses ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’ve been on treks with your father when he would carry a bottle of wine for the whole day, just to liven up the evening’s proceedings. You might have been conceived on one of those trips.’ She gave Mandy a knowing naughty smile.
‘Oh, Mom. Gross,’ moaned Mandy. ‘That’s not an image I want, thank you very much.’
Mandy finished telling her mum about her last visit to Ireland. ‘Jon is excited about his trip to Australia. It’s his first time at the World Championships. It’s in Canberra, just south of Sydney.’
‘Well, he wasn’t suited to university life,’ Ann observed. ‘It’s just not his thing.’
‘No, he was never going to get on University Challenge.’ Mandy replied mischievously.
