by James Garvey
Theo dashes in front of English. "What the hell are you doing? Control yourself."
"Sorry 'bout that, Theo." English lowers his gun. "We're all a little jumpy round here. Lucky I'm a shitty shot."
"You're shot found its mark." The sparks fade around Etch as he brushes ash from his chest. "I have special armor that stops projectiles most of the time. If you had chosen the plasma rifle, I would be compromised. What is your name, man?" He stares at English.
"English. And who might you be?"
Etch introduces himself, pulling a chunk of jerky-like food out of a patch. His staff folds in on itself and he tucks it into his belt. "I hope that you do not mind that I eat. Running through the woods and ducking gunfire make me hungry. I am, as you might expect, an alien to your world.”
“Well, that’s pretty obvious,” Bets remarks. “You’re not the first weird thing we’ve seen, including the aliens or whatever they were that killed our family and friends. Convince us not to kill you.”
"Well, thank you for that welcome, young woman. I doubt that you would be able to dispatch me if you tried. He pats the weapon on his belt. It is most unfortunate what is happening to your towns and loved ones. This is not our fault, although we might be able to provide assistance. Your companion, Amy Marksman, may hold a key to our shared dilemma. And we may be able to recover the child from the wayward telepath named Thresh."
Bets responds. "You speak as if there are more of you. How many friends do you have? And why are you here?"
"We are exiles on earth. I am the pilot of a space vessel called the Fuerst. My companions are human, with the exception of one. You can meet them at our camp, where we can repair Amy's leg. We should travel quickly and with stealth on our side."
CHAPTER 10 – THE FUERST
We follow Etch’s sleek, massive body moving expertly through the thick brush. The valley is oppressive, the air’s soaked with moisture, and I’m seeing creatures I’ve never encountered before – colorful snakes, enormous winged insects, and hundreds of unique, flamboyant birds. The more Etch moves, the better he smells – a mixture of lemon zest and mint.
Our party struggles up the other side of the gorge, following an invisible path through vines and around massive tree trunks. The cart becomes mired in deep mud and after a struggle, we abandon it. Etch assures us that his camp will provide all the amenities and comforts we need. We tear the cart apart and hide the pieces the best we can. English makes certain to stash as much shine as possible in his pack. I see Theo doing the same with pouches of tobacco.
We crest the other side and face a vast forest sloping toward a faint ribbon of blue – the ocean. Etch stops. “The camp lies at the end of the forest by the sea. We have another day’s ride.”
Theo pulls out his tablet and the image of the woods bursts forth. The blue dot marking the vessel that Troll showed us is blinking. Clearly, we have found the people we were searching for.
Etch eyes the tablet. “That’s a nice antique Theo. I have a companion who will love to examine that. It has historical significance.”
Clouds form and a drizzle greets us. Samuel grumbles, “Better be dry where we’re going Etch.”
“Samuel, we have a nice dry cot waiting for you.” Etch chuckles.
“That’d be nice.”
Theo turns Silius around, looking north across the gorge. “Oh my earth,” he mutters. A thin column of inky smoke streams from the distant horizon. “Do you think Thresh found the village?”
Bets grunts. “Everything we touch goes to shit. Why’d you expect those poor people to go unscathed by us?”
“Worse for us, that means Thresh is on our trail,” English says.
“We must move swiftly. We will be safe near my vessel.” Etch motions for us to go forward.
My leg’s numb, which worries me worse than the former pain. More disconcerting is the lack of emotion I’m feeling about everything. Thresh is probably destroying that wonderful town and has my daughter, who may be witnessing the carnage. But my soul’s as unresponsive as my leg.
The day’s a blur to me. I have a wicked fever and find myself phasing in and out of the magpie, my faithful companion since we were at the village. I try to draw strength from somewhere deep inside myself, but there’s nothing there.
Light wanes. However, we approach a white light, similar to noon-day sun, shimmering through the tree line. “We are here,” Etch announces. “There is a protective field around our encampment. I will deactivate it. Follow me through the gap. Do not deviate from the path or you will regret it.”
We follow him in a single line into the trees. Blinding light sears my eyes. The roar of crashing waves nearly knocks me off Phineus. I’ve never been to the ocean and the sensation is glorious. All the pain and worry well up from some kernel deep inside me and I sob uncontrollably. Out of the bright light and salty air appear two impossibly handsome people – a man and a woman dressed in strange, green clothes. They help me off of Phineus and the man touches my bare shoulder with a strange metallic object. I drift into a delicious sleep.
“Hello, Amy. You made it.” Dream Fromer's sitting in the sand next to me. His boots are off and I see his strangely human feet, toes wiggling. My emotions are now completely unimpaired. “Fromer, I demand that you tell me where you took Wenn and father. And how do I get Eliza back?”
“Foremost, about your little girl, I’m sorry that she’s in the hands of Thresh. You and Eliza will be reunited in time. That’s all I can tell you for now. As for Wenn and your father, I was responsible for their departure before the fall of your village. If they’d stayed, they both would have died. They are far away on the other side of the mountains, but safe for now.”
“I hate you. You’ve destroyed my life and dragged all these poor people in with me.”
“Amy, do you really hate me? You’re looking for an outlet for your anger. Thresh and her allies are to blame for this. I’m here to help the best I can. Let me try to explain what’s going on. Please walk with me.”
I walk effortlessly in this dreamscape, marveling at my surroundings. The waves wash on the beach, white foam curling in emerald pitch. We turn away from the water and there she is, the Fuerst. It stretches into the distance, its black surface gleaming in the moonlight. It looks a little like the shiny carts we saw in Troll’s compound, with a large window in the front and thin wings extending along its sides. Along its belly are large cylinders arranged in neat, concise rows. A pipe with stair steps hangs underneath the ship’s right wing.
Fromer puts his thick hand on my dream shoulder. “What do you think of Etch’s vessel? Etch and I have long been friends. I used to command the crew of this ship when I was young. It’s difficult to explain how this ship travels through space. But it can allow us to travel between here and almost any of those stars.”
“The moon as well?” I ask.
“Of course we could.” He smiles sadly. “Although we might not want to go there right now.”
“Why’d the lights go out – on the moon?”
“A war has broken out in space, including the moon. The people living there have abandoned the surface, for now. I’m afraid the fighting will spread to here soon.”
“What’s the fighting over?”
“What are all wars fought over? Resources, power, access. There are two factions, who you will unfortunately meet in time. One government, now called the Institute, has been in power for more than a thousand years and was responsible for the exile of your people on earth. The other is a group of folks called the FRT that want to bring down the Institute and impose their own rule on space. The FRT has long been my nemesis.” He growls. “The only thing protecting earth and your people from both of them is fear of a contagion that may have winked out a thousand years ago.”
“Troll told us that some bad people, terrorists, released something that destroyed most of the machines.”
“Yes, Amy. The circumstances are murky at best. Some people released a horrible substance o
n earth that did not kill other people. Rather, it killed the technology on which they depended – a clever ploy that was far more damaging than any could ever imagine. Maybe the terrorists wanted earth to return to a simpler condition. Whatever their motive, the weapon consumed communications and power networks on the planet. It worked like the infection in your leg, spreading quickly. The rest of the humans and other creatures, including my species, in space decided it would be much too dangerous to allow anything from the surface back into space. So, the entire planet and its survivors, including your ancestors, were quarantined indefinitely.”
“Does this infection remain?”
“That’s a good question. It hasn’t affected this ship or the various gadgets that Etch and his companions have been using, thankfully. They wouldn’t last a week without their technology.” He laughs. “Troll scanned you and your friends when you descended into its compound. The only reason Troll allowed you in was because you were not contaminated. I’d guess the weapon, whatever it is, still exists dormant on the planet. But where and to what extent – that’s an unanswered question.”
“Why do people want to come back here to earth?”
“Some of the reasons are mundane – recolonization, development, and exploitation of the planet’s considerable resources. However, there are a few people out there that have discovered a miracle here on the surface. Would you like to climb into the Fuerst to see more?”
“Sure, but what has it to do with the miracle?”
“Let’s see.” He leads me up the steps into the ship. It’s dimly lit and cramped. Padded, black benches line the walls. We walk forward through a small doorway into a large room with a single seat. The beach and waves are visible through the window in the front. “How does this room make you feel, Amy?”
“Strangely familiar. Comfortable.” The room allows me to feel a connection with many other beings like me, far beyond this world. We’re all looking at the stars, but from behind them. It is an odd sensation that’s impossible to understand. Yet, it seems natural to me.
“Amy, you’re among a very rare group of beings in the universe. We call them pilots. Etch is one. With the proper training, pilots are able to navigate these ships through the unimaginable emptiness of space. Unfortunately, Thresh is also among your kind. This room is a pilot house. It works to magnify your ability and to navigate the ship.”
He jumps in the seat. “The technology the pilots use takes advantage of your ability to see things that most of us can’t see or experience. Some call it telepathy. It’s really just a way of perceiving the energy that’s created by life. Thinking and feeling are just other forms of energy and you can harness them. I don’t expect you to understand all of this, although with time, you will.”
I’m confused. “So, what does this have to do with the miracle here on earth?”
“Across the mountains is a place where the heat contained inside the earth bubbles up toward the surface. It acts like a magnifying glass for tiny organisms that live there. They naturally do what this ship does – provide a way to travel long distances by opening a hole in the universe. In it, you can see all of creation and travel among the planets, stars, and perhaps other places as well. But there’s a catch. Someone with a natural connection to the earth and the innate skills of a pilot needs to be there to control access to the portal or doorway that they create.”
“So, Mister Fromer, you’re telling me that I’m that person?”
“You or Thresh. There may be others, but I don’t know who they are. If Thresh reaches the portal and learns how to control it, this wouldn’t bode well for earth or for the worlds beyond it.”
I think of Flip. He’d never have been able to handle the job. Now Fromer, the god or alien, has dumped the responsibility of protecting earth and other worlds on my shoulders. The responsibility of tending the garden overwhelmed me. I hope the infection in my leg kills me so that I don’t have to face this anymore. And I wonder what this means for Eliza. Will she have to inherit the burden from me someday?
I consider the creatures ravaging the countryside - that destroyed my home. I ask, “What about the fog and the grubs? Where do they come from? Did they arrive on a ship like Etch and the others from space? Do they have a side with the Institute or the other group, the FRT?”
“No. They’re seeping through the doorway across the mountain, like pus from a wound. There are other things beyond the doorway that are not of this time and space. They’re jealous of life and want out. They had a taste of freedom on another world and they’re bringing some of what they discovered with them.”
“The brown fog?”
“Yes, the fog was created by a human – a brilliant scientist – and he used it on another planet, a place where life had not yet arisen. He intended for the mist to help bring life to that world, like seeds and compost for a garden. Instead, the creatures that exist beyond the portal found this fog, stole it, and now are using it to possess living things and roam earth. They mold it like clay to do their bidding. And, I’m afraid they’ve found a friend in Thresh.”
“So, the fog can be used to make monsters and raises the dead?”
“Precisely, Amy. And more of it is pumping out of the portal each day. It needs to be stopped.”
I feel the familiar tugging and Fromer vanishes. I open my eyes and am lying on a comfortable cot in a small room. The handsome, dark-haired man I saw when we first arrived at this camp is working at a small table and hasn’t noticed that I’m awake. My leg hurts again, which I take as a promising sign. I shift and the man turns around.
“Good to see you awake.” He smiles. “I’m Grey. You’re leg’s healing. We did the best we could. You’ll be able to keep it, but you’ll have a bit of a limp. We only gave you a mild sedative – didn’t expect you to pass out like that.”
“Where are the others?”
“They’re fine Amy. We’re trying to piece together what’s happening out there.”
“I need to talk with Etch.”
“I’ll go get him.”
The dark alien arrives. “Good to see you feeling better Amy Marksman.”
“I just saw Fromer again.” I tell him about my experience, while he stares at me with his thoughtful, buggy eyes. He’s eating something that looks like bread but smells like rancid cheese.
After I’m finished talking, he wipes his hands on his pants. “I suspected that there was something afoot here on the surface. Another door, very interesting. The other pilots will sense it with time. We need to get you to that place quickly. There, you will find your husband and father. And we will need to determine how to control the opening or destroy it.”
“What do we do about the fog?”
“I hope that we can stop it by controlling the portal. The beings that are behind this exist beyond our universe – all this. They need the fog to survive in this reality as the beasts you call grubs and spread. If we close the door, they will be unable to control it.”
“And Thresh?”
Etch grumbles. “I will tear her apart.”
I shake my head. “Only if you can get past me. I get first dibs.”
Grey peeks his head in the door. “Do you mind if I interrupt?”
Etch stands. “I think we are finished for now.”
Grey hands me a strange piece of food. “It’s called a sandwich. Two slices of bread and one of my favorite things, peanut butter. Here, take a bite. You need to heal up.”
I’d heard of peanuts but could never get them to grow in our soil. I take a bite and the mixture of salty, sweet, and gooey richness makes my head spin. “Thanks,” I mutter, my mouth glued together.
Grey smiles and hands me a sweating glass of milk.
I wrinkle my nose. “How’d you get this? I didn’t see any cows around.”
“When’d you get a chance to look around?” He asks.
I hesitate. “Just assuming.”
“Well, we can generate basic food materials using raw materials from the s
urroundings. No cows necessary."
I think about Troll’s compound. The same must have applied to the food and drink it provided to us. I suppose I was naive to think the robots were tending a farm for us. "What's a raw material?" I ask.
"Just about anything can be reconfigured. Most simply, our waste."
"By waste -" I'm afraid I won't like the answer.
"Leftover food, excrement, and urine are the most basic ingredients. But even that stuff runs out of key nutrients. The rest we find in the fields and the ocean or grow in our garden. Etch occasionally hunts and fishes for us as well."
My appetite wanes. I push the milk away. "You eat compost."
Grey laughs. "You'll get used to it. I am the one who grows the crops. I'll show you in the morning." He gathers a robe and gestures to me. "Why don't you try out your leg?"
"It's broken. I can't use it yet. It'll take months to mend properly."
"On your own, perhaps. However, basic field medicine always includes a kit for annealing bones. Come on." He reaches to me.
I sit up and swing my legs over the cot. Grey holds my hands and I stand. I'm a little shaky, but my sore leg holds. Grey drapes the robe around my shoulders.
"Come on out for a bit. It'll help you heal by keeping active, with caution of course."
We leave the small building and enter the courtyard of a small, makeshift compound of metallic buildings. The Fuerst is in the distance and the ocean is only a couple of hundred yards away. My dream self didn't notice the wonderful salt air and warm breeze. The artificial light is dimmer, less harsh than it was when we entered earlier. "How long was I unconscious?"
Grey whispers, "This is late evening of the third day."
I'm about to voice my astonishment when we round the corner of a curious, humming building. There, sitting around a merry fire are Theo, English, Samuel, Bets, and Etch. Theo, English, and Samuel wear the strange clothing that Grey's donning. Bets is still in her hunting clothes, stretched out, warming her bare feet by the flames. Sitting next to her is a muscular young woman with a worn, kind face. Bets exclaims, "Marksman, you spend more time out cold than awake. Welcome back to the living once again."
