by John Lilley
There was no mistaking the fluid traces in the small patch of leaves. The tracks next to it were not immediately familiar, but a quick search suggested a large carnivore, probably a bear. But why would a bear attack someone in the middle of the forest at night? Why was it not sleeping in its cave? Also, why did it take the soldier’s body away along with his weapon? Was it going to eat him, a simulant? One bite into the organic plastic construction would have put off most natural creatures. These were some of the questions going through Dennis’s mind as he hobbled about the undergrowth attempting to see where the bear had gone.
It was a tough slog up the next part of the valley. The forest track was narrow and slippery. Jane and Dennis seemed to be permanently surrounded by a swarm of biting midges. As a result, they’d both covered up by wearing light-weight gloves, long sleeved shirts and head nets under their hats. Consequently, they were getting rather hot and sweaty. The two barred owls (Strix Varia) approached them from stage-right. Their silent flight through the dappled shade of the forest made them virtually undetectable. They struck with complete surprise, Jane and Dennis spun around as they felt their hats and nets lightly snatched from their heads. Initially, each of them thought it was some kind of prank from the other, but then they both got a brief glimpse of the owls as they flew off through the trees with their hats and nets. Three of the soldiers opened fire but only succeeded in lopping off a lower bough from a nearby tree. Unfortunately, the branch supported a rather large hornet (Vespa Crabro) nest. The paper construction crashed to the ground and was immediately crushed flat by the falling branch; larvae and hornets spilt out.
‘Leg it,’ screamed Jane.
Jane ran, and Dennis hobbled as best he could, but the black twister of hornets rapidly overhauled them. Jane slowed slightly and looked back the see Dennis engulfed in the Hornets. The soldiers did their best to swat as many Hornets as they could, but the Hornets were not interested in the simulants.
Jane screamed: ‘Quick, get the tent up. We’re in danger of being stung to death here.’
The tent was erected in seconds. Jane helped Dennis inside and sealed the flaps. Once inside Jane systematically swatted the Hornets they’d brought inside with them. Dennis was not looking good; his face was covered in numerous stings which were beginning to swell. His eyes were closed, and he was twitching in pain. Outside the tent, the buzzing had intensified. The soldiers had now improvised hornet-swats and were attempting to beat off the attack.
Inside the tent, Jane rubbed cream from her medipack into their stings. Dennis had all but passed out and was just curled up a foetal position.
‘Epinephrine shot,’ he said through gritted teeth.
Jane searched the medipacks for the EpiPen.
After a further ten minutes of frenetic activity, the buzzing diminished and the remaining Hornets took flight to salvage their nest.
Later that night, Jane applied a fresh cold compress to Dennis’s face, and he began to come around as she did so:
‘My face feels like it’s on fire,’ he said.
‘I think that injection did the trick, Dennis. Try to sit up, and I’ll get you a drink and something to eat,’ said Jane.
Dennis sipped carefully on the hot soup with his swollen and cracked lips and managed to open his eyes a bit more.
‘Three more of the soldiers have gone,’ said Jane.
Dennis looked up startled from his soup, ‘Gone. What gone to the shops, gone on holiday?’
‘Hey, don’t be so snappy, they just disappeared at some point during the hornet attack,’ Jane said.
‘So we are down to five, and we have only been here two days,’ he said.
‘I’m sure we’ll make better progress tomorrow. The woodland isn’t as dense from here on, and it’s only eight miles from here to where we met them the last time. We should easily make it before sunset,’ said Jane reassuringly.
‘Yeah, you’re right. Sorry for snapping. This soup is working wonders. After a good night’s kip, I think I’ll be OK, but I think my modelling career is over,’ Dennis said, trying a smile with his blotchy swollen face.
‘Dennis, Dennis, wake up. Come on wake up and get out here it’s nearly eleven o’clock,’ said Jane.
Dennis’s head appeared through the flap, noticeably less swollen but still heavily scarred from the stings.
‘Eleven. What’s going on, where are the others?’ he asked.
‘Gone,’ said Jane.
‘Gone,’ he said slowly as he emerged and hobbled from his tent to look around.
‘They took everything with them, the food, remaining weapons, everything,’ said Jane.
Dennis just stood in the clearing looking at the two tents and then scanning the surrounding forest. He rolled his head back and looked up at the canopy.
‘My radio went in the wolf attack, do you still have yours?’ he asked.
Julie fumbled in her shirt and trousers pockets.
‘It’s gone too,’ she said.
‘So we can’t even call the damn cars,’ he said as he sat down and pushed his hair backwards slowly.
‘OK,’ he said. ‘Do you want to walk back to the cars or walk on to maybe meet the Natives?’
‘We’ve no food or water. The trek back to the cars would be hard, especially for you. I’m hoping that Harry will be where we are heading and that he will have his radio,’ Jane said.
Dennis leant towards Jane’s ear and whispered: ‘They’re playing us. I bet they’re just a few yards away. Basically, we’re screwed. I really don’t think they would let us get anywhere near the cars. So, as you say, our only chance is that Harry is up ahead has a radio and has now made friends with the Natives. I’m not really sure of the wisdom of calling the cars anyway especially that second car but let’s just carry on and get it over with.’
Jane nodded, stood up and helped Dennis to his feet.
34 BACK AT THE OFFICE
They had pushed on relentlessly through the tunnels for what seemed like hours. It had been a continuous downwards trek with the temperature gradually increasing. The musty air was becoming oppressive for Harry, and he was beginning to think that he would have to ask for a rest. Something which he was dreading since any attempt to slow down had been rewarded with a dig in the ribs from the Native behind him. Then without warning the passageway ended against what appeared to be a solid wall of grey metal. John Blackhawk raised his hand in a signal and the grey wall split in two, retracting smoothly and silently into the passage walls. The party walked forward out of the gloom of the tunnel and into a well-lit and carpeted reception area. John approached the desk where the attractive young receptionist was already smiling at him.
‘Hey Mellisa, you look better every time I see you,’ he said.
‘You’re such a charmer. My mother warned me about men like you,’ she said.
‘Your mother has no room to talk,’ John said. ‘I’ve got a special guest with me, please let Chief know. We’ll be in the lounge.’
‘No problem, I’ll organise some eats for you,’ said Mellisa.
Harry was pushed forward, he was still struggling to take in the cleanliness and opulent luxury of the reception area; it was so over the top and such a contrast from the tunnels. They entered the lounge through automatic doors that swished aside. The Natives gave the impression that what they did out in the forest was just some sort of day job and that now they’d returned home. Two of them were commenting on the failings of the coffee machine. The doors opened at the other side of the room, and an elderly Native lady entered pushing a trolley laden with plates of food. The Natives who had slouched across the red deerskin sofas now jumped to their feet and helped the old lady to lay the plates of food out on the crystal topped tables. Their patience only extended until the trolley had been fully unloaded before they tucked into the food, grabbing handfuls onto their plates, then retreating to one of the sofas with their prizes.
‘Uncuff him,’ said John.
The Native who had seriou
sly bruised Harry’s ribs on the recent walk released Harry’s cuffs and collar leash. Harry rubbed his sore wrists and looked across to the trolley. One of the Natives approached him with a plate of food and motioned him to sit on a nearby sofa. John came over with his plate and sat opposite Harry.
‘Welcome to our home,’ he said. ‘In a few minutes you are going to meet Chief, he is an artificial person by the way, similar to your Central and to Mother from your British homelands.’
Harry bit into one of the sandwiches from his plate and stared mutely back at John. Inside he was emotionally churning. ‘Mother’, he seemed to have some deeply repressed memory of such an entity, but a new reality was slowly sinking in.
Five minutes later the doors where the food had come from opened again, but this time a small old man walked into the room. He was dressed in the same deerskin hunting gear that John and his party were wearing. The only difference was that he was also wearing a feather headdress. Everyone in the room immediately put down their food and stood up. Harry instinctively followed suit.
The small man approached John and Harry and sat on one of the sofas next to John, signalling everyone to take their seats again.
‘John, I see you’ve brought someone to see me,’ he said.
Harry was taking in the new guy’s appearance. He moved with the fluid mobility of a twenty-something, but the skin on his face was so lined and weathered that Harry would have put his age as even older than Gene’s father.
‘Yes sir, he’s a British person called Harry. I’m sure you’ll find him interesting,’ said John.
‘Well Harry, I’m Chief, what have you got to say for yourself?’ said Chief.
35 REUNION
The walk was uneventful for Jane and Dennis. Despite his injuries, Dennis was doing quite well. His walking was rapidly improving as the swelling reduced on his wounds. With just a simple compass to guide them, they followed the main track which led north. After three hours of walking, they came across a small stream and spent a good thirty minutes rehydrating. Dennis immersed his head in the ice cold water to take some more of the remaining swelling out of the stings.
‘Hey, what do you think to these berries?’ asked Jane.
Dennis studied the multi-lobed blue-black fruit in Jane’s hand. He squashed one between his thumb and forefinger.
‘Non-fibrous fruit from a thorny bush?’ he asked.
‘Yep, it scratched me,’ said Jane.
Dennis had already put the berry in his mouth and started to chew. Ten minutes later they were sitting on the ground, their fingers stained purple by the berries, but feeling somewhat satiated. It was mid-afternoon, and the daytime creatures were in full swing. Their attention was drawn by a family of racoons (Procyon Lotor) which were scampering around in the top of a nearby tree.
‘Welcome to our world,’ said a voice to their left.
Too tired to react in any other way Jane and Dennis remained seated and just turned to face the new arrival. Chief was stood in the centre of the path. His left arm was extended straight out to his side and on it were perched two large owls. Each owl had a hat in its beak.
‘I was wondering when we’d get those back,’ said Dennis with instant familiarity.
‘Dennis, you are indeed as tough as old boots. Exactly how Harry described you,’ said Chief.
‘Harry?’ squeaked Jane.
Chief looked to his right and gave a sign. A giant Native instantly appeared from the surrounding undergrowth and pulled Harry out onto the path. There was a brief moment as they all took in what they saw before Jane and Harry ran towards each other. Dennis bit down on one of the berry seeds stuck in his teeth while he watched the embracing couple and the two Natives. He was already evaluating several possibilities from the current situation. While he would have preferred the option of a hovercar and a rail-gun he was reasonably optimistic. It seemed that the Natives were receptive to other humans but not simulants. Jake had explained to him that Chief and Central had a lot of “history” to deal with.
‘First of all, I must apologise to you all for the treatment we have given you, but when you initially arrived in that museum piece of flying junk, our first thoughts were that you were from one of Central’s bases or perhaps from one of the gangs,’ said Chief.
‘We understand, but before we talk about anything else I need to warn you about the hydrogen bomb that Central has sent you,’ said Dennis.
‘Very perceptive of you Dennis, but not a problem, we have already detected and neutralised that threat, but thanks for warning us,’ said Chief.
‘Well, that is a relief. I was impressed by the Brontotherium by the way, like some sort of rhino on steroids. Can you bring anything back?’ asked Dennis.
‘Oh that was just Chico; he’s one of my “Specials”, quite harmless really. Genetically he’s actually closer to a horse than a rhino, but in answer to your question, we do have our limits. Apart from a few “show” creatures like Chico, we usually prefer to look forward. Creatures that did well a few million years ago would often struggle in today’s ecosystem, or create an imbalance,’ said Chief.
Harry approached Dennis and shook his hand as he helped him to his feet.
‘Well done buddy,’ he said.
‘You own me big time on this one,’ said Dennis, still squinting through his puffy swollen eyes.
John’s deep voice boomed out behind them: ‘OK guys, let’s all make a move to more comfortable surroundings, I could sure use a coffee.’
36 A PLAN
‘Central just won’t go with it,’ said Chief. ‘I’ve told you all about Bruce and Neil’s visit. You know what happened to them once they left here. The Four and you Kids are part of his little empire. You can’t expect an ultra-territorial military machine to think any differently. Poor old Gene and the other “boys” are more like lab-rats, but I’m still sure he wouldn’t like to let them go. Over the water, I know that Mother is still smarting from the kidnap. It just reinforced her experience from the Atlantic atomic showdown. She’ll have cranked up her defences to extreme levels. Anyone or anything approaching will be blasted first with no questions asked. As far as we know this is why both sides have kept their distance for so long. All of our efforts to see what’s happening over there have been rigorously beaten off. The problem I have is that I think she might be thinking that it was I who instigated the kidnappings. I don’t think she knows about Central, he wasn’t even around the last time we met.’
‘Well according to what we were told, there was nothing left in Britain after the plague,’ said Dennis.
‘That’s just not true,’ said Chief, ‘there is a massive amount of radio-frequency activity from that part of the world. In fact, sadly it’s the only place outside North America that’s showing any significant activity. With the aid of my “special” Condors, we’ve watched and listened for 200 years now as the rest of the world has shut down. As far as we know, it’s just Britain and us these days. I’d hate to see Gene and his buddies live out their lives in Central’s hamster cage. It’s a pity that Bruce and Neil did not take my advice to sneak them out when they were small boys.
Like Jake, I’ve been thinking lately that perhaps Central is suffering from depression on top of his obvious personality problems. Unfortunately, the Four have been under his charge for so long now that they’ve become institutionalised. Even Jake you will find will be uncertain about a future away from Central. That’s why he took so long to tell you guys. As for you Kids, you could have a life here with us, but really you need to be back with your families, it’s as simple as that.
From my point of view, both Mother and I have spent over 200 years in isolation guiding our respective charges through thick and thin. As you may know, the planet is very sick, and we desperately need to combine our forces and people. This situation may be the ideal time to rebuild bridges and reintegrate.’
Harry, Dennis and Jane had gone quiet. They were still taking in the possibility that their friends and families w
ere still alive. Dennis’s thoughts rapidly turned to hatred for Central, it must have been true what Jake had suggested that there was no plague and that they were kidnapped after all.
‘Do the Four know that Britain is still a going concern?’ Dennis asked.
‘Those poor guys don’t know much outside of their own domes. Central has always censored every piece of information that’s been available to them. Despite Jake’s best efforts he’s been denied access to the full picture. Those guys are so closely monitored it’s impossible for them to even fart without Central knowing. Snooping and misinformation is Central’s way, it always has been, it’s where he came from, how he started and he’s not stopped since,’ said Chief.
‘So how do we get them out?’ asked John.
‘I’d like to say that I could just have a chat with Central and sort it out, but that won’t work. Somehow we need to pull the wool over his eyes just long enough to get everyone away and beyond his range,’ said Chief.
‘OK so we get away somehow, what happens in Britain, can we just stroll into Britannia City as if the past 25 years haven’t happened?’ said Dennis.
‘I’m working on it, my son,’ said Chief. ‘I must warn you that we’ve made many attempts at this in the past and failed, but there is one thing we haven’t tried yet. I’m going to have to develop some new “special” creatures, and we’ll also need to put some agents in there to ease the way for you all. Both of these things will take some time, but Central is actually a much simpler proposition. The timing of the whole thing will be the critical part. What I’m going to need to do is find out from you as much as you know about Gene, Bill, Carlos, Jake and Central. I’ll need all the details of their domes, their likes and dislikes, their daily routines, everything. I’m also going to give you some hardware to take back with you that will make it harder for Central to snoop on what you are doing. Eventually, I’ll send you something to help the Four do the same. The other thing is it’s a long way to Britain, do any of you have any sailing experience?’
