by D. J. Holmes
She was lying in a small oval vessel Alexandra had designed. With Jake’s help, they had made it to Earth within a month of leaving Berius. Earth and the other four human colonies had been deleted from the galactic map. Yet the Elders couldn’t make a planet disappear. Jake had been able to give Alexandra a close estimate of Earth’s coordinates. Alexandra had done the rest. She had analyzed the movements of the stars in the area and found an anomaly. There was a gravitational source in the area that wasn’t marked on the Elder’s galactic map. It had been the Sol system.
Getting to Sol had been the easy part. Jake had warned them Earth was some kind of Elder military base. He hadn’t been wrong. As soon as Sarah had brought Destiny close enough to get a look into the system, she had reversed course. There were four Elder cruisers and ten frigates in the system. On top of that, there was a massive Elder station in orbit. Alexandra had identified it as a shipyard. She had thought Elder shipyards were only built around Elder Homeworlds. Yet Earth had one. It explained all the warships in orbit. And the efforts taken to hide Earth.
With no way of sneaking Destiny into the system, Alexandra had come up with another idea. She had designed and built the pod Sarah was in. Supposedly it was all but invisible to Elder sensors. At best, it would look like a small meteor and wouldn’t set off any alarms. In fact, that was what Alexandra was hoping for.
Sixteen hours ago, Alexandra had shot the pod out of one of Destiny’s missile tubes. The pod had flown through the Sol system on a ballistic course. Now, just before it finished passing through Earth’s atmosphere, the pod fired its deceleration boosters. Without any warning, Sarah was flung back in her restraints. Then, almost as quickly as it begun, the thrust from the boosters vanished. They had done enough to slow the pod’s descent. The excess heat would attract some attention, but if an Elder investigated it and backtracked their sensor readings on the pod, they would only see a small meteor. They would hopefully conclude the heat was from the meteor burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.
As the view screen became transparent again, Sarah’s excitement rapidly grew. She was through the atmosphere. She could see her homeworld. There were mountains in the distance and below her there was a forest. It became bigger and bigger to the point where she could make out individual trees. Looking beyond the forest, she could see some cultivated land. Nestled in the middle of it she could see a house. That’s my target, Sarah said to herself.
They had argued for almost a whole day over who would go. Divar and Alexandra wanted Jake to go. He knew Earth, he could make contact with the Resistance easier. In the end, as usual, Sarah had won out. She had refused to back down. She had travelled half the length of the Orion Arm to get to her homeworld. If anyone was going to the surface, it was her.
Alexandra had targeted the pod to come down in an agricultural area just west of one of the main cities. Jake had said the city was the administrative capital of the Elder’s occupation. A place called Washington. In order to reach the Resistance, she needed to find a safe contact. Jake had said a small farm was the best. The farmers had little contact with the Elders who kept themselves to the city. They would be able to hide her, and maybe even be willing to help her contact the Resistance. At the very least they should be able to help her get into Washington unnoticed.
As the ground rose up to meet her, Sarah braced herself. Just before impact, the pod released three parachutes. The sudden deceleration caused by their opening jerked Sarah’s neck back. Then, just moments later, the pod struck the ground. If it wasn’t for her restraints, Sarah knew she would have struck her head and probably blacked out. As it was, the force of the impact threw her into her restraints and knocked the wind out of her. Her insides felt like they had been whizzed up in a blending machine by all the forces that had been jostling her.
A cracking sound informed Sarah the pod’s hatch was opening. Still disorientated, she covered her eyes as sunlight came streaming in. They had grown accustomed to the blackness of space over the last twelve hours. She cracked them open and then waited for them to get used to their new environment. Once she was satisfied she could see, she reached up and released her restraints.
As she stepped out of the pod, Sarah looked up at the sun. It looked to be just past mid-day. Jake had told her as much as he could about her homeworld. They had planned for Sarah to have a good eight hours of daylight. She needed to find a suitable farm or shelter to pass the night. A noise from the pod made her jump away from it. Two compartments opened, revealing two drills. The pod dug into the ground it had landed on. Within a minute, the pod had disappeared from sight. As it went deeper and deeper into the ground, it backfilled the hole it was making by releasing the fresh soil it dug up. Soon, there was almost no sign of the pod.
Well there’s no turning back now, Sarah thought. There was a very real chance her mission was a one-way mission. At least, for the foreseeable future. She had loathed the thought of leaving Alexandra, yet it was a price she had to pay to see her homeworld and try to help her people. Though Earth had a small orbital industry, with mining operations in the asteroid fields dotting the outer edge of the system, there were very few ships that traversed the solar system. At least, few human ships. The system was alive with Elder ships as they ferried in resources for the shipyard in orbit. Alexandra had estimated there were four ships currently under construction within the giant yard. Though she said it could produce many more.
Four was enough. The amount of Elder ships moving about the system made it all but impossible for Sarah to sneak out. Someone would see her and challenge her. She would also have to steal a freighter or something. And that in itself would likely prove impossible. It was possible the resistance had another ship they could use, as they had done when her mother had arranged Sarah’s escape from Earth. Yet the possibility seemed slim. Either way, it was a problem for the future. She had a task to do now.
Turning away from where the pod had been, Sarah set her face towards the farm she had seen. The pod had landed in a large open area. There were many different types of grassy vegetation around her. Some came up to her thigh. Beyond them was the forest she had seen, and beyond that, the farm. As she started forward Sarah let her hands fall to her sides to brush up against the vegetation. The feeling was like nothing she had ever experienced. At the same time, her head was constantly scanning back and forth. Every second there was something new for her to marvel at. The whole landscape looked wild and untamed. All the planets she had visited before had either been rocky, barren, or heavily cultivated. Even Berius’ forest had looked evenly planted so as to be harvested. As she got closer to the forest ahead of her, it was clear this forest wasn’t like that.
It’s so pretty, she thought. It’s wonderful. I could stay here forever.
Once she was in the forest, Sarah was amazed again. It became a lot darker and all the green shades turned to browns. Even so, here and there, there were bright explosions of color as clumps of flowers grew out of the underbrush. For nearly an hour Sarah walked through the forest. Though she was still awestruck by everything she was seeing, a part of her realized she could easily get lost in the forest. Her attention was now focused on staying in a straight line. Wandering off to look at every new thing would mean she might never find her way out.
Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Someone or something was watching her. Slowly, she turned around. She could see nothing. A squeak from above made her jump. She whipped out her laser pistol as she looked up. She relaxed as soon as she saw it was just some kind of small mammal. It ran up the tree away from her.
As Sarah returned her gaze to the forest floor, the feeling of being watched strengthened. More movement caught her eye. This time a large four-legged creature strolled out of the under bush. It only came up to her waist. Yet its eyes were fixed on hers and as it took another step forward, it lifted its upper lips, revealing long sharp teeth. It let out a low growl. The growl was matched by another as a similar animal appeared moments later.
Sensing they were about to attack, Sarah raised her pistol and shot the second animal. Falling to the ground, it let out a wail. The other animal pivoted and jumped back into the under bush. Sarah moved forward to examine the fallen creature. Her beam had struck it right in the chest and it was dead before she reached its side. Reaching out, she felt its body. It was covered in thick fur that was smooth to the touch. When Sarah peeled back the dead animal’s lips, she saw that it did indeed have razor sharp teeth. She knew if the animal had sunk them into her she would be in trouble. The armored flight suit Alexandra had designed for her months ago would probably stop the teeth from penetrating her flesh. It wouldn’t however, stop all the force of such a bite. If two of the animals jumped on her, she likely wouldn’t be able to get them off.
A loud howling pierced the silence of the forest. Sarah dropped her pistol and covered both her ears. The noise sounded like it was coming from just a couple of trees away. It must be from that creature, Sarah thought. When the noise ended, she picked up her weapon. She was about to get up and continue her trek when another sound made her pause. It was a similar howling, yet this one was further away. Then there was another, and another.
Jumping to her feet, Sarah shot a couple of beams in the general direction the first animal had run off to. Then she turned back onto her original course and ran. If her attacker was calling for help, it seemed there were plenty more of the creatures nearby to come to its aid.
She was followed by more howls. They spurred her on, for as they continued, they got closer and closer. Looking over her shoulder, Sarah fired in the direction of the howls. Relief washed over her when she saw light through the trees. She had to be coming to the end of the forest.
Just then, three of the creatures came into view. They were running alongside her off to her right, easily keeping pace with her. Sarah raised her pistol to fire at them but they dodged behind some vegetation before she could sight in on them. Even so, she fired a handful of beams into the vegetation.
Seconds later two more of the animals appeared, this time on her left. Again, they spun away as Sarah made to fire on them. A series of whelps told her that at least one of her shots had hit something.
A sudden growl from almost right behind her made Sarah turn around. Fear struck her as the largest creature she had seen yet came bounding right for her. In her shock, she tripped over a root and fell backwards. It saved her life for the animal launched itself into the air, its open mouth aimed right for her throat. As the animal passed over her, Sarah followed it with her pistol. When it landed she burned two holes into its body.
Quickly, she pushed herself back onto her feet. As three more of the animals appeared, charging towards her, she shot one and then turned to run towards a large tree. Using it as cover, she shot another of her attackers. The third ran past her and disappeared into the thick vegetation. Glancing around her, Sarah couldn’t see any more of the animals, yet there were sounds of large animals moving around just out of sight.
Taking a risk, she accelerated into a sprint. The edge of the forest was just twenty meters away. As she ran, she fired indiscriminately over her shoulder. More whelps told her she had hit something. Finally, she broke out into sunlight. The ground in front of her was almost completely flat and she continued to run as fast as she could. The vegetation was very different to the grasses on the other side of the forest. The ground was covered in very short plants, barely ten centimeters in height. They had dark green leaves and were planted in uniform rows. They were crops, Sarah realized. She hoped that meant the farm was nearby.
Stealing a glance behind her, Sarah swore. The animals had followed her out of the forest. Now, without cover, she finally saw just how many there were. She didn’t have time to do an accurate count, but there looked to be as many as fifteen. Sarah ran as fast as she could. She kept firing but most of her shots went wide. The animals were catching her with ease. When they were less than thirty meters behind her, they spread out into a semicircle as they closed in to attack.
“Over here,” a voice suddenly called from just in front of Sarah.
Turning around, she saw some kind of wooden contraption off to one side. Two large animals seemed to be tied to the front of it. They were looking at her attackers with fear in their eyes. A man was standing on the wooden contraption, what looked like a very primitive cart. He was holding a long staff. Two other animals were standing underneath the wooden contraption’s wheels. They looked similar to the ones that were chasing her. As soon as the man spoke, they began to bark and growl.
Sarah hesitated, the animals with the man looked almost as dangerous as the ones chasing her. “Over here,” the man shouted again. “Quickly.”
With no other choice, Sarah pivoted and sprinted towards the man. Her attackers were just moments away from catching her. As she approached the man bent down and held out a hand. “Climb up,” he called.
Taking his hand, Sarah jumped onto the cart. As her attackers closed in the two animals tied to the cart whined and moved back and forward. “Whoo there,” the man said as he tightened the rope that led to the two large animals.
“Don’t worry,” the man said. “The dogs should keep them at bay. They won’t attack us up here.”
Sarah guessed the dogs were the creatures that were barking and growling. She wasn’t so sure they would do the trick. Her attackers had already reached the cart. They were now fanning out to encircle them. Glancing at the man, she saw fear in his eyes too. Perhaps he wasn’t as confident as he made out.
Lifting her pistol, Sarah took matters into her own hands. Now that she was stationary and her attackers weren’t running, hitting them was easy. Within ten seconds she had shot and killed eight of the beasts. As the ninth let out a whine and fell to the ground, the others broke off and ran away, letting out howls as they went.
“Thank you,” Sarah said as she turned to the man. She froze as she saw the look in his eyes. “Were they your livestock?” Sarah said, realizing that she may have killed the man’s livelihood.
“Are you a Blackshirt?” the man asked instead of answering, as he stood back and examined Sarah’s attire.
It dawned on Sarah that the man thought her weapon meant she worked for the Elders. Jake had told her that weapons, especially advanced weapons, were banned on Earth. “No,” she quickly said. “I’m not.”
“You’re lying,” the man said as he stepped back from her and gripped his staff tighter. The two dogs grew still as they stared up at her. It looked like the man was getting ready to knock her off his cart.
“Here,” Sarah said, thinking fast as she handed her weapon to him. She needed to win the man’s trust. “If I was a Blackshirt, would I give you my weapon?”
“Maybe,” the man said as he took the pistol out of Sarah’s hand. He examined it carefully. The way he held it suggested to Sarah it was the first time he had seen a weapon up close. Having thumbed the safety back on as she had handed it to him, she hoped he wouldn’t figure out how to release it.
“What are you doing out here?” the man said. “My farm is on the edge of the cultivation zone. No one is supposed to go beyond that forest out there.”
“My name is Sarah. I didn’t know about the cultivation zone. I have come here looking for help,” Sarah answered.
“What kind of help?” the man asked.
“Help getting to Washington,” Sarah answered.
“Washington, isn’t that where you are from? The man said. “You aren’t wearing country folk clothes.”
“Aren’t you going to tell me your name?” Sarah asked, trying to diffuse the tension.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man said.
“I’m just trying to be friendly,” Sarah answered. “What do you know about the Resistance?” Sarah asked, deciding to change her approach.
“Nothing,” the man said quickly. “I don’t talk about such things. They don’t concern me.”
Sarah sighed. She was getting nowhere. “
Well I am looking for them,” she said, coming straight to the point. “I have some key information I would like to share with them. If you can’t help me, I would like my weapon back. I will be on my way.”
“You’re going to just leave and walk to Washington,” the man said, surprised. “It’s about forty-five miles.”
Sarah didn’t know what a mile was, but she knew that Washington was about three days journey on foot from her landing site. She hoped she would run into someone else who would help her before then. Either way, she needed someone who she could talk into trusting her. Instead of answering the man, she held out her hand for her weapon.
The man hesitated. Sarah saw in his eyes that he might just be what she was looking for after all. “What kind of information do you have?” he asked.
“Oh, I dunno,” Sarah replied, knowing that she had him. “Just the kind of information that could end the Elder occupation of Earth. I thought you didn’t talk about the Resistance though?” she finished with a smile.
