“Are there a lot of battles going on?”
“It’s really just one big war between the rebels and us.”
“I’m not a rebel,” she reminded him, then peered over at the young military specialist and asked quietly, “How many have you been in?”
“A few.” Chang had been jealous of the red and gold striped combat ribbon above the right breast pocket of his flight suit. “Now look, if you’re going to come along we have to get a few things straight.”
“I’m listening.”
He pointed his finger at her, “You do exactly as I say, no arguments! I don’t need a liability.”
“I’m in good shape and a fast runner.”
“I saw that. Look, I don’t know what is in orbit, but if it is a rebel Imperium fleet, we’re in a world of hurt. Their marines are mutated somehow or messed up so that they fight like animals. They will rape anything that looks or smells female, and when they take prisoners …” suddenly he choked on his words and looked away.
In a flash his composure returned, his look hardened and with quiet authority, he ordered her to, “Do exactly as I do.”
She nodded with out a word.
Then he checked his Con, decided on a route, and motioned her to follow.
Chapter 4: Callisto
The city had been devoid of population for over a century EST and the cracked concrete streets and sidewalks sprouted weeds and underbrush. Trees crowded everywhere so that the steel and glass skyscrapers protruded above a canopy of green. Since man had ventured out of the solar system, all of the planets he colonized had shown no signs of intelligent indigenous life. Each world had to meet certain requirements before certification for human population, including specific minimums for size, gravity, day and year cycles. On the other hand, atmosphere and ecology could be adapted, and like many other worlds, transplanted flora and fauna from earth made up Selunia’s ecosystem.
Whatever killed off the population of over two hundred thousand left no signs of mass destruction on the streets or skyscrapers, but skeletal remains were evident everywhere. Fossilized bones littered the ground; death captured in twisted agony, many locked together in eternal combat. Torian walked cautiously holding his Con in his right hand, one eye scouting ahead and the other monitoring the holo display. He knew the dense bushes and trees were ideal for ambushes, either by animals or by humans, yet the birdcalls and occasional howls from wildlife made their trek almost seem like an outing in an animal preserve.
Glancing around at the tall apartments that made up a residential square, the soldier suddenly halted and reached for his pistol. Siiri came up close behind him for protection.
“See?” he held out the Con with a holo outlining an object flashing red.
“What is it?”
Torian pointed up to a window up two stories and to their left, “A leopard is watching us from that window.”
She gasped in wonder, “Oh, its beautiful! I’ve never seen one in the wild!”
“… and deadly, if the wolves hadn’t got to you first. Anyway, we’ll keep our distance.”
“I never thought of the old city as so full of nature.”
“It is unique. On earth there are some large cities with entire neighborhoods overgrown with vegetation because of the depopulation.” Peering into her curious blue eyes, he started to grin, “Did you study earth in school?”
“A lot. I always wished I could go there.”
The young man shrugged, “That might not be so easy. We have to get off here first.”
The two figures hiked onto a main thoroughfare littered with the rusted hulks of abandoned hover cars. The wide expressway rose above the streets and gave them a birds-eye view of the derelict city. Situated on the bank of a wide the Norstrom River, the city spread out picturesquely against a backdrop of white peaked mountains to the east and in its day would have been numbered among the coveted quiet getaways in the known universe.
The expressway ran north to south, cutting the settlement in half with the easy flowing river to the east where most of the main city buildings were located. To the west, a few residential suburbs were visible and farther north was the wide-open area of the Space Port. A tall column of black and grey smoke rose to the north close to the river where they were heading. On either side of the expressway were three-meter barriers to protect the hover vehicles from flying off the road and down into the streets. Every meter a gap appeared in the barrier to make room for a tall post with lights.
The sun peered out from behind a reddish moon, drying the cracked pavement though a few wet patches from the morning drizzle remained. As they walked by, Torian peered into the large, dust-covered windows of a faded blue family hover van sealed and locked, and saw the intact skeletons of a family of four still buckled up. Further, up the highway they saw other skeletons, including one with its boney hands locked around the throat of another.
“They died suddenly in mass violence.” he commented to the girl who was glancing elsewhere. The off-worlder followed her line of sight to a glass and steel structure with four mini-towers, and then checked his Con.
“Some sort of municipal building?”
“Underneath is a tunnel to the valley. They dragged me underneath and then locked me outside. That’s where they exile the outcasts.”
“You ran along the streets to the Hawkeye?”
“That’s where the voices said to go. I saw you come down. It was either that or eaten by wolves or whatever horror awaited me from the Sky Demons.”
“Well, you seem to holding up well to all the horror.”
“I look like a horror.”
“No one said you had to look your best for a Sky Demon,” then he glanced at her, “I’ll bet that was a special dress at one time.”
Siiri became somber and hastily looked away. Torian sensed that the dress was a sensitive subject, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“It’s all right,” then quickly and a little shyly, “Why did you want to be a soldier and kill people on other planets?”
With a curl on his lips, he turned to the girl, and despite her ragged appearance, it was easy to watch her round blue eyes, “I never wanted to be a soldier. They made all young men go in for a physical, then they held a lottery, and my DNA tag was one of them that got called.”
“Conscription?”
“That’s right. Your command of English is very good.”
“We speak our own language at home, but in school it’s all English.”
“We only kill enemy combatants. Never civilians.”
The girl responded with disbelief, “That’s a lie. I’ve seen holos of Sky Demons bombing cities and killing women and children.”
Torian frowned, she was more informed than he had thought, and she was right, they had bombed cities and planets, “I never bombed any cities or killed civilians.”
“That’s good.” she replied, but Torian resented how she judged him.
“I don’t know what wars you viewed, but didn’t you see the news pods on the humanitarian efforts, we rescue colonists and refugees all the time.”
“And that excuses burning schools and hospitals?”
Despite all their highly advanced precision munitions there was always collateral damage, but he knew the pilots and warship commanders never intentionally tried to harm civilians, though he suspected the enemy used them as shields, “We try not to miss military targets, but mistakes happen.”
“A lot of mistakes.”
Grumbling, he sighed, “I never did any of that.”
In the distance at the outskirts of the city, a wide column of fiery black and grey smoke dominated the view. Hiking on the open expressway meant they were exposed, but they had good command of the surroundings and faster travel time cutting through the center of the abandoned city.
Striding by another vehicle, a hoverbus with bones strewn all over the seats and aisle, Torian paused and read his Con, and then glanced at Siiri, “What do your people
say killed everyone?”
She shrugged, “Sky Demons.”
“Well that explains my popularity,” but he added, “Some survived?”
“Yes, some did, in the caverns and tunnels underneath.”
Torian was pensive, and then abruptly began to walk ahead. The two continued in silence until they came to a ramp that led off to the large four-spire administration building Siiri had pointed out earlier. She stopped to stare for a moment and Torian turned back and followed her gaze.
“It’s probably not good to dwell on the bad memories,” he cautioned.
“I just don’t understand why the voices picked me. They must have known what the priest and the council would do, because so many were cast out before me.”
Her talk of voices was starting to unnerve him, so he tried to change the subject, “Did you venture into the city much?”
“A couple of times mostly armed scavenging parties. Father Jarlan would take us on school trips, though. That was exciting because we got to keep what we found as long as it wasn’t dangerous. Everyone would want something different, cans of food we couldn’t grow, medicine, portable devices; the city holds so many mysteries. But there are many things to fear.” Then she peered at him curiously, “What about you? What is your world like?”
“We farm. I live in a small town near a big city, so we go in to scavenge, except we have to pay for things.”
“But you don’t have leopards living in the buildings or packs of wolves running in the streets.”
“No, that’s true.”
They walked without speaking to each other for a while, passing more vehicles and skeletal remains. She studied his flight suit quizzically, “So what do all those colored patches mean on your uniform?”
“Which one?”
“That one,” as she touched the symbol over his right breast pocket of a silver wing set against a human eye and encircled by small stars.
“I am the eye in space.” smiling slightly he explained, “I am a recon specialist, officially a LRRS tech, which is short for Long Range Reconnaissance Space. I operate surveillance equipment, as well as the guns when we come under attack.”
“And that one is the symbol of your bigger sky ship, the Callisto?” the girl pointed to his shoulder with the same symbol on the mug Torian had given her earlier in the Hawkeye.
“Aye. It’s the symbol for the C.S.S. Callisto, and on my other shoulder, the symbol means I am assigned to a Hawkeye squadron.” The symbol was of a hawk head with a bright eye.
“In the war holo stories the boys would watch some soldiers got medals …”
“There are only the ribbons on our flight suits. The actual medals are only worn on dress uniforms.”
“So what are they for? That red and gold one?”
“That means I’ve been in combat before.”
“The purple heart shaped one?”
His voice tensed imperceptibly and softened, while his gaze drifted away, “For wounds.”
“I’m sorry …”
“No, you asked,” then lowering his pack he pulled out Chang’s Con and brought up some floating screens. “Here. I’m going to give this to you, but let me wipe it first.” He touched several virtual buttons on the screens, and then held it out to her. “Ok, hold out your hand, have you seen these before?”
“There were some in the village, but they don’t work anymore,” when he placed the small black square device in her palm it hummed slightly.
“It’s scanning your DNA. I flashed it to clear Chang’s signature.”
“It’s mine?”
“For now. Ok, it is ready. Wave your hand over it and the menu will pop up. Yeah, like that.”
A small column of text appeared over the square device, and with his finger, Torian selected a few items and showed her the basics. He was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she learned and after only a few moments, he had a second pair of electronic eyes.
“Yeah, like that; now link to my pistol…” he showed her a how to manipulate the holo screen with her fingers, “Good.” They both observed a bald eagle flying high above them so Torian tracked it with his Con and showed Siiri a few tricks.
As they walked side by side along the old expressway, they alternated back and forth between studying the city landscape with their eyes, and scanning with their Cons. A breeze began to pick up, cooling the hot afternoon sun and rustling the ivy and clover that popped up between the cracks on the expressway. Playfully, Siiri picked a few mauve and white ivy flowers from the road and stuck them in her hair above her ear.
Crouching by a gap in the protective wall of the road, Torian watched his Con holo while Siiri ducked beside him to observe multiple images on her own device. “Dogs or a wolf pack,” the lanky off-worlder reported; then he caught sight of the flowers in her long filthy blonde hair, “You’re such a girl.”
“Of course I’m a girl,” with a playful laugh, “and very happy to be alive! You should be, too, you’re the only Sky Demon I have ever known to survive the city.” Then she scanned herself with the Con to display her image, and adjusted the flowers. “Don’t girls put flowers in their hair on your world?”
“Aye, takes me back to a flower festival and a pretty girl I once knew, so long ago.”
“Oh…” Siiri almost burst into a lighthearted grin, but his grave expression wiped it away. Reassuringly she added, “…we’re down wind of them, they won’t pick up our scent.”
“You were a hunter?”
“Yes. My father took me and my brother on many hunting trips.”
The young man shrugged. “We have to get off this high road soon,” glancing warily up at the sky.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, hopefully nothing at all; come on flower girl,” silently he worried about enemy fighters.
They walked a little more cautiously and wordlessly after that, until she could no longer hold back her curiosity. “So what great war are the Sky Demons fighting this time?”
“It seems there’s always a war. This one has been going off and on for about 5 years.”
“Why do they fight?”
“Any excuse I suppose. There is a big organization of all the colonized worlds called the Confederation of Planets, with the headquarters on earth. But some of the colonies don’t want to be part of the Confederation anymore, so they rebelled.”
“But then why did you come here; why Selunia?”
“I don’t know. I just follow orders, even if they’re stupid.”
“Do you like following orders?”
“It doesn’t matter, you just do them. I’d rather go home,” striding across the freeway to the side facing west; he studied a few buildings across the empty plains. Confirming what he already knew, he asked, “That’s the Space Port?”
“Yes.”
Pulling out a pair of small black binoculars he examined the buildings more closely and what appeared to be parked space vessels. “Wow, those are antiques; there is a space museum somewhere lacking exhibits.”
“What are you looking for? Can you fly those sky ships?”
“Aye. I wasn’t considering that, but those pads look strong enough to support a battle cruiser.”
“Enemy sky ships?”
“I don’t see any, but they might try to use it.”
He glanced at her and she returned a puzzled look. Then he motioned her to continue and they walked for a few kilometers until they were near the north edge of the city.
Torian pointed to the next ramp, “We’ll head off there.” He eyed the black and grey tower of smoke surrounded by smaller fires burning from debris. Once off the ramp, they walked along a side street covered in weeds.
Siiri pointed, “My village is that way, along the river.”
“The crash isn’t too far,” Torian commented as they strode down the road into the thicker brush, vigilantly scanning the side streets both with their natural eyes and with their Cons.
On an overgrown sidewalk Torian pulled out
a metal water bottle and offered it to Siiri first, but she declined, “Go ahead, I need to find a bush first,” he nodded and then she added waving her finger, “Don’t scan in my direction!”
“Don’t worry, I’m checking the fires for debris,” he sighed, annoyed.
“Good.” She disappeared and he took a couple of gulps of water. Then he studied his Con in the other direction, towards the smoke and wreckage. There was some burning debris a block away.
Staring at him a few feet away from a copse of elm trees between two large buildings was a white tail deer with a six-pointer rack of antlers, “Oh how I wish I was back home with my hunting rifle. Pa would be so proud.” Torian made his hands into a pretend rifle and aimed at the buck, but the deer wisely kept his distance and unused to human presence, just stared.
“If only I had my bow!” she whispered, creeping up behind him.
“Are you any good?”
“Of course, I’m better than most of the boys my age.”
Just then, the deer dashed away and vanished into the dense brush that used to be a small parking lot for residential apartments.
“I could use that drink now.”
The street that led away from the expressway was wide with shops and parking lots, and like the other roads, full of wrecked vehicles, debris, and vegetation. Checking his Con, he now focused their trek towards the small fire further up the road. Hazy grey smoke filled the air from a burning piece of debris in the abandoned parking lot of what appeared to be a large grocery store.
“Hey, that’s a Nutrifood!” Torian spied the faded green building with some of the large yellow letters still intact.
“What?”
“A chain of big grocery stores, we have them where I’m from. I guess they had them here, too.”
Approaching the burning object Torian checked his Con and then cautioned Siiri, “Checking for radiation.” When he noted her confused look, he chuckled, “It’s invisible, but can cause harm. It is usually occurs around sky ships when they break up.” He spotted a long tubular object that crushed two abandoned hover cars and set them aflame.
The Battle for the Ringed Planet Page 4
