The Grand Master

by Bill Stenlake

  ‘Bring them all ashore now, Vinnte.’

  They are led out from the craft and seated in a transporter for the short journey to the main centre. The Watcher can see that this settlement is much larger than the one he had left to take The Keeper away to Earth. They are taken in to a committee room, where three men are sitting at one side of a large table. They are offered refreshments before being asked to take their places round the table. There are enough seats for them all to sit on the one side opposite the three men.

  The introductions are made by the three men. The Watcher recognises the names of the three men: Baram, Sinca and Melde. What does immediately occur to him is that these three men were in different camps. Baram takes the lead, not as the leader of the three but the one they have designated as their spokesman.

  ‘I see you are slightly surprised we are sitting here together.’

  The Watcher acknowledges this with a miniscule nod of his head.

  ‘We quickly realised that our numbers were too few to survive in separate settlements. I know it was not your idea to do the experiment this way. I also know why you took over the experiment. You may have thought that we were unaware that you were taking The Keeper away from Velchitta to safety, but you were wrong in that. You were allowed to do that without any interference, because some of us knew it had to be done. The fact that this experiment was being planned gave you the opportunity to get away without being too obvious. As you know, it gave you an excellent opportunity to try to protect him. What none of us could have accounted for was the interference of one of the Guiding Masters. The situation on Velchitta would have worked itself out in time, given the way that Algreb was using his power. Sadly that was lost when GM3 arrived and decided to follow you to take The Keeper.’

  The Watcher and the others are nodding their heads gently as these points are laid out for them. Baram continues to talk to them.

  ‘We were not supposed to have any contact with Velchitta. In fact we would not have done so, but for the fact that we were asked for help by The Wise Soul. He knew where we were, as he had used his tracking device when we were brought here. Somehow he managed to find a channel to create a communication link to us. That has since been destroyed, as we do not want anyone to be able to trace where we are, other than the ones who already know. Unfortunately we have to assume that The Grand Master as he calls himself now, very likely has access to know of our existence. Anyway, it was through The Wise Soul, Elkante, Draton and our technology here that we gained access to the craft which allowed them to follow The Grand Master’s craft to Earth. None of us were aware that The Keeper would be unable to defend himself and that you would not either. It is not your fault, as you were never really ever designed to be able to do much. It was all a deterrent as far as we can make out.’

  ‘Thank you’ The Watcher replies, but it still does not make him feel any better. He still feels he should have been able to do some more.

  ‘The only three we trust on Velchitta, are here with us now. Ideally they would have been chosen to come on this expedition, but they were excluded for unknown reasons. It is probably most likely as they are slightly older and have no families. We knew when you left here to get some more people that you weren’t really going to. We knew what you were doing and that was fine. But as soon as we were on our own, we three met up and it was decided that the way forward was as one community. That way we would be able to develop what we needed most urgently, with all the best minds working in harmony. We had to develop a defence mechanism for our planet. Your ship is the first one we have been able to test it on in a live situation. Pleasing to say, we are happy with what we have developed.

  CHAPTER 44 VEE & BAR

  They have taken the first two sections to the chute, ready to take the outside. They are more awkward to handle than the loads that Bar has taken out so far. It is not that they are heavy because they are not; it is the size and shape. Bar starts to manoeuvre the first part through the chute to the outside world. It is a tight fit and he finds it difficult to get the right angle to get it through the gap. Vee holds one end, while he has the end nearer the outside. Inevitably it seems, the piece bangs against the side making a noise. It is the sound of metal upon metal and although the noise is not a loud bang it is, nevertheless, the sound of metal upon metal. The noise is not loud enough to alert any of the human soldiers who are relatively nearby, but it is loud enough and at such a pitch to be picked up by the dogs. Unknown to Bar, they have already been round, crossing the path where he has been taking the stuff to the hedge. He does not have a scent as such, but they have already picked up the different smells each time as they wander round. It has not been enough for them to alert their masters.

  Bar pulls the piece out, along the passage he has cleared before, into the open while Vee goes back in to bring another piece near to the chute ready to take outside. Now he is not restricted by the chute, he manages to move the piece away from the chute and hole towards the hedge, where the other parts are waiting. Before he knows it there are two black noses nuzzling in at him. He stops and turns round to come face to face with the two dogs. They are clearly puzzled at what they have come across. One of them puts out a paw which manages to separate Bar from his load. Bar is trying to decide what to do. If he runs there is no doubt that that the dogs will chase him and catch him. They look as if they have strong jaws; jaws easily strong enough to bite through his surface and do him a lot of damage. That damage could easily be fatal for him and his overall mission. He is just hoping that Vee can sense that something is wrong. The last thing he needs right now is for her to come out of the chute, or make a noise trying to get the second piece through.

  As the one piece he is carrying falls to the ground, the dog takes it paw away. Bar is left standing there with two, now growling dogs, threatening him. The second dog sticks out a paw and stops him moving, not that he is going to. The other dog starts barking as it springs around, almost dancing around, Bar and its companion. Bar hears the sounds of footsteps. They are heavy feet which herald the arrival of half a dozen soldiers. They have their weapons at the ready. The dogs back off to allow them to see what they have.

  ‘Call it in Corporal’ one of them says as he bends down to see what has caused this stir. ‘It looks like there is something being brought out of this ship after all. Get them to send extra men so we can seal off this area.

  All this time Bar is motionless. He has decided that he will not move. That is easy for him to do, as he has switched off his motion circuits. To all intents and purposes he looks like a toy, a very well circuited electronic toy. To one extent he fails to impress the soldiers. They assume that he is a remote control device and that someone is controlling him. They are soon joined by a lot of other soldiers, who spread out to start searching the surrounding area. It doesn’t take them long to follow the line Bar has taken previously. They find his stash of parts hidden in the hedge. They don’t touch any of it, but leave a couple of soldiers to guard what they have found. It takes them even less time to find the place where Bar has come out of the craft.

  ‘This is something that wasn’t here before Sir’ the soldier, who is on his knees looking at the hole and open chute in there, says to the officer behind him. ‘I can’t see inside, but there is definitely an opening.’

  ‘Stand back, Private! Keep guard in case there are more of them trying to get out. Jones, get something we can wedge in the opening in case they try to close it.’

  ‘Yes Sir!’ Jones replies before he goes in search of something appropriate. He returns less than a minute later with spades and an iron bar. They dig the hole wider so they can access the chute. He then places the iron bar in such a way to prevent the chute from being closed.

  The soldiers searching are convinced that Bar is being controlled by remote control. Their search spreads further away as they try to find the place where the operator is concealed. They don’t give up, even when they have searched all visible areas.

  Bar and the
piece he had been carrying, are still exactly where they were when the dog’s paw separated them. The soldiers have said they are going to leave them in situ until the bomb disposal team arrive. They don’t believe that they are dangerous as they are, but they need to make sure they are not booby trapped if they are touched, or moved not on their own. Obviously the one that looks like a robot dog has some kind of motor mechanism and power source to be able to carry the other piece. The soldiers have now placed a steel sheet across the opening of the chute so that Bar cannot suddenly dive back inside. They have brought the dogs back to sit guard over him. They know already that he did not harm the dogs the first time when they found him. Bar knows that he has nowhere to run, so he waits to see what develops.

  CHAPTER 45 MARIO & TZ

  Buzz signals for TZ to follow him. It isn’t that he ignores Mario; it is just that his signals and words so far have been directed at TZ. The vehicles are all switched off and they leave them where they are, as everyone follows Buzz, with TZ at his side, towards the porch. Mario enters the house alongside one of the John’s, he thinks. No one waits for him to go through the door so he just goes through in his turn, followed through by QT. QT is only in his mid-teens or so it looks to Mario. His face and hands have a baby soft look. He guesses that is where the name has come from. If he had bothered to look closer into QT’s eyes he would have seen a much older man, discreetly hidden by the deceiving exterior of his body. Mario isn’t in the mood for taking close looks at any of these people at the moment. His attention is being taken up by the fact that they have come here to get a truck, without even half the money they will probably need. There are also at least half a dozen more folks here to deal with than he had expected.

  The room inside is bigger than Mario expected it to be. In fact the whole floor area is open plan, as far as he can see. At the far end in the kitchen area two people are busy spooning something onto plates. It is clear which one is Ma, as she is the oldest person in the room by a mile. The other person helping her is very much younger. She raises her eyes from what she is doing as the men enter the room. Her eyes pass quickly over TZ, but stop fairly and squarely on Mario. They stop there probably in real time for only five seconds, but in that time Mario can see how beautiful she is. She is probably the same age as his sister, but 6 inches taller. Her skin is a delicious tanned brown and smooth. Even from the distance across the room, he can see how silky smooth her skin is. Her long dark hair hangs down her back. Her eyes are large and definitely brown. She is simply, so stunningly, beautiful. Her figure is long and slender, barely disguised by the long dress she is wearing. Ma nudges her and she turns her eyes back to her work.

  Buzz has walked over to the table and is pulling out a chair for TZ. Once he has her sitting down, for the first time he raises his eyes to seek out Mario. He walks over and holds out his hand.

  ‘Mario, you have a beautiful sister. Come and sit with me while we eat. Afterwards we will talk about the truck.’

  As he walks over beside Buzz, he lets his eyes wander over to the girl again. She is now busy ferrying plates over to the table. The rest of the men are busy moving chairs back, to allow them to take their seats at the table. Buzz shows Mario into the seat beside TZ. Buzz then takes the seat at the head of the table, the other side of TZ. By the time the scraping of chairs has finished every place at the table is filled except for two. The women are still ferrying plates across to the table and then when that job is done, they bring jugs and beakers over to the table too. Drinks are poured, while the women sit down in their places. Ma sits down on the other side of Buzz and the girl takes the only other available seat, which is right next to Mario.

  Mario smiles at her as she sits down. His eyes have not deceived him from a distance. This girl is very beautiful. The eyes are deep, large and so wise. His attention is diverted before he can think any more.

  ‘She is Maria. She is from the Nadahli tribe. You will find that she does not talk. She has never spoken a word. We found her wandering when we were young. Story goes that she was caste away from the tribe because of something they say that she knows. This something they say, that would have been trouble to the tribe. Something that they say she has in her eyes that is different. Ma took her in. I have to say she fights like a mountain lion and has a temper like no woman I have ever known. Don’t get across her and you will be fine. Don’t try to mess either, because the last one and only one who tried isn’t here to tell the tale. Don’t let her beauty fool you is all I am saying.’

  ‘Thanks for that’ Mario says.

  ‘After saying all that; she asked that she would be allowed to sit beside you at the table. That is unusual cos she most times sits right beside Ma here.’

  Everyone tucks into the stew Ma has prepared. The jug holds lemonade, which has quite a bite to it, but is very refreshing. Maria keeps her eyes down on her plate as she eats her food. She does not acknowledge the few introductory words Mario speaks to her before he starts eating. He can’t help himself from occasionally taking a look at her beauty every few minutes.

  With the stew tucked away, the women clear the plates and replace them with plates loaded with chunks of apple pie and blueberry pie. There is no choice; you just get what appears on the plate in front of you.

  At the end of the meal coffees are served and drunk before the women clear the table. Other than Buzz, every one of the men departs and goes out to do whatever work is planned for the afternoon. Mario can hear the engines start and stop as the vehicles are moved.

  Buzz, TZ, Mario, Ma and Maria move over to some comfier chairs to sit down and start to talk.

  CHAPTER 46 SPIRIT

  Spirit sits back, but keeps his eyes on the console as his thoughts are confirmed. Boristal 7 is the 5th planet going away from Sonol 22. Bit by bit the other planets move off the edges of the console’s screen. The near ones and the far ones drop away, until there is only one planet visible. Slowly this planet increases in size, filling more and more of the screen.

  Spirit leans in closer and tries to make out if there is anything that visibly does not belong. In truth he is still too far away from the planet. A row of lights are illuminated and he immediately feels his craft beginning to slow down. This is accompanied by a change of direction too. The planet is pretty much now filling the screen and he can see his craft is going into some sort of orbit around the planet. This is as far as the coordinates will take him. From this point onwards it is up to him to use the craft’s sensors to pick up Luvus. Hopefully it will be something that will show up on the sensors. He sees from his instruments that the planet is not particularly large, which will be of at least some assistance to his search.

  His craft settles into the orbit and virtually all of the power is disconnected. He is still moving at a reasonable pace, but slow enough to be able to pick out something, providing it is in his path. He notes that the diameter of the planet is maybe a little over 2000 miles. That still means there is a large surface area for him to cover with his search. Thankfully the instrumentation is on his side. He has moved over less than a quarter of the surface when he is alerted to a red light on his panel. It is a light which up to now has not been lit. The focus of the console shifts over away from the line it is following and then zooms in to the surface of the planet in the distance.

  What Spirit has been able to establish is that Boristal 7 is an unoccupied planet. Not only is it unoccupied now, but it has never been occupied or colonised. Now that he is closer to the surface of the planet, he can see that it is on the downgrade. It is apparent to him that Sonol 22 is a star that has seen better days and is relatively close to burning out, however great the heat it still has, this is nothing compared to the heat it must have had in the beginning. Spirit calculates that probably most of the planets would have been too hot to sustain any form of life. He looks closely, as the screen continues to zoom in on the surface of the planet. He feels the craft turning again just at the same time as he sees Luvus is a compact lump, as that is wha
t it looks like.

  He feels the craft is slowing down even more now. He is interrupted in his watching the screen, as he sees a missile leave Luvus and aim straight for him. He goes for the manual controls, but the automatic system is a second ahead of him. The craft takes a sharp turn to the left. The control screen remains fixed on Luvus. The missile changes direction and beyond it Spirit sees another missile leaving Luvus, followed quickly by another. The craft starts to twist and turn. Spirit tightens the straps of his chair, so that he can remain focused to the screen.

  Another panel opens up on the desk in front of him. A screen flips up. Defence system appears on the screen. Then follows an instruction to Spirit. Share the load; I will control the craft in evasive action and positioning. You should use our weapons to destroy these missiles.

  Spirit says ‘yes’ out loud, although he knows it is only really to him he is talking.

  His chair is swung round without warning and a rear panel is raised so that Spirit is now looking straight behind the craft. He sees that in the time it has taken him to get here, another three missiles have been launched in his direction.

  ‘You need to take them out or their sheer numbers will make it impossible to avoid each and every one of them. Another missile is launched from Luvus. There is now a trail of missiles zig-zagging in their wake. Bit by bit though they are making up ground on him. Taking hold of the joystick he manoeuvres the cross hairs that appear on the rear view of his craft. He presses down for less than a second. A string of air compounded pellets stream across the space between him and the missiles, carried on the laser beam.