by Ian Woodhead
“So would many humans, Walish Din.”
“Does that include you?”
“I’ve never been a huge fan of the Empire,” she admitted. “Thing is, what’s going to happen if or when these aliens do crush the Empire? What’s going to happen then?”
He hadn’t thought about that. The humans hadn’t really bothered much about his species; they certainly hadn’t sent a swarm of orange dragons to kill everyone he had ever known.
“Why are you still here, Walish Din? For crying out loud, stop it with the thinking and get on with your plan!”
He spun around at the sound of the new but familiar voice to find the other human female standing directly behind him, hands planted on her hips while glaring him.
“The only reason why the humans haven’t bothered with your species is because you don’t interest them in any way. They would if your little secret had reached the ears of anyone important. Believe me, they would have literally wiped you out before bringing in their machines to extract everything of value from your world.”
“Who are you talking to, Walish Din? Is it her? Is it the one who looks like me?”
“Now stop it with the hesitating and get on with it!”
He watched her image grow translucent before finally disappearing. Walish Din turned around, pushed past the girl, and strode down the tunnel. “We’re wasting time,” he said. “Show me where your ship is.”
She took the flashlight back. “Fine, we’ll do that, but I just hope that your species knows how to run, because even if you do fall back, I won’t be coming back for you.” Having said her piece, the girl took off, leaving him alone in the dark.
He watched the glow from the flashlight grow dimmer and dimmer as she increased the distance between them.
“Are you not going to catch her up?” asked a voice.
“I thought you would appear once she had gone. I have some questions and I expect straight answers and not riddles.”
“You’re going to lose the girl if you don’t run after her, Walish Din!”
“For a start, you can tell me exactly who you are, because you’re not that girl, and you certainly aren’t a figment of my imagination.”
She laughed. “Some of me has been taken from you, my friend. Just like a portion of your new human friend was used to create her guardian. The rest? Well, who can say where that came from. Perhaps your web-creating deity has something to do with that. Before you hit me with another question followed, no doubt, by a barrage more, my purpose is to ensure your survival, to make sure you reach your final destination in one piece. Something which won’t happen if you carry on delaying.”
Before he had a chance to ask her any more questions, the girl disappeared, leaving him totally alone. Walish Din smiled to himself before setting off walking. He didn’t run after her, knowing that somewhere along this tunnel, she would be waiting for him. He knew this, just as he knew that his imaginary girl would return the next time he faced imminent danger.
He walked for quite some time before he began to spot the faint change in the blackness. The glow from her flashlight grew brighter. Walish Din expected her to start shouting at him, but the girl kept her silence, simply moving the light from the floor to his face when he stopped beside her.
“This is the place.”
He nodded, noting the tremor in her voice. The girl was scared of what was above their heads. Until now, he hadn’t allowed his mind to dwell on the details of his plan. Perhaps that was a good thing. Walish Din was still, at heart, a creature which shied away from confrontation. Thinking ahead would have probably have locked up his mind by now.
“We have to stop whatever is in those incubators from breaking out,” he said, watching her expression change from anxiety to utter terror. “That is why they have brought us to this world. It’s the only thing which makes sense.”
“You have lost your mind, Walish Din. What do you mean by they? Is this something to do with your web again? I hope that you’re aware of the kind of animal that spins a web. So this means that we’re just flies, waiting to be eaten.”
“Have you quite finished?”
“I’m a trader, not a soldier, and it’s pretty obvious that your species doesn’t have a single warrior cell in your body.”
He shrugged. “Appearances can be deceptive,” he replied, pointing to the pocket where she stashed her box full of worms. “The blue aliens that I saw in my vision looked docile to me, and yet you say that all that changes when they smell those worms.”
Before the girl opened her mouth to vomit out a load more reasons not to go, he kicked out a hole in the sand wall at the height of his knee before repeating the same action on the other side. He took a deep breath then started to climb. The top of his head pressed up against some kind of barrier. It wasn’t sand, that much he knew.
“You have to push yourself out right at the edge of the wall,” she said. “That’s how the trenches work.”
He complied with her reply and found himself staring at the feet of hundreds of humans, all as still as stone statues. He now understood the girl’s reluctance to continue. He felt that her terror has just jumped into his body. It took him a couple of moments to find the courage to swing the rest of his body out of the trench.
Three rows of human statues stood in front of the girl’s ship. The vehicle’s hull glinted in the moonlight. Walish Din blinked, until he noticed that this planet’s star had sunk below the horizon.
He watched the humans for a couple more seconds just to make sure that none of them were moving before he returned to the edge of the trench. He dropped down and ran his fingers along the sandy soil and stopped when he found what he was searching for. Walish Din gripped the edge of the trench covering and pulled it up to reveal the female human staring up at him.
“There’s no Gizanti up there?”
“If there was, I wouldn’t be up here. I’d be diving back in that trench.” He reached down and helped her up. “Come on, let’s get this finished.”
“Get what finished? You still haven’t told me what you plan to do.”
Walish Din walked up to the closest human. Like all the others, he wore no clothing, none of them possessed any hair, and a thin film of shiny oil covered their bodies. He kept his fingers clear. He had the feeling that a break in the covering would bring every orange dragon on the planet here.
His inspection discovered something else amiss. The skin covering this human’s stomach was not opaque like the rest of his body. He was sure that this was not normal. He leaned a little closer and saw several spherical egg-sized objects swimming around in a thick pale fluid. Walish Din glanced over his shoulder. The girl’s eyes bulging in their sockets confirmed that this wasn’t part of their species anatomy. “This must be what the orange dragons are guarding. I wonder what they do once they hatch?”
“I really don’t like it here,” she muttered.
He threaded his way through the humans, heading towards the girl’s spaceship. “I hope your species can run,” he said, smiling, “because even if you do fall back, I won’t being returning for you.” Walish Din reached the ship then turned around. “Don’t let your body touch theirs,” he said. “We’re not ready for the orange dragons just yet.” He waited for the girl to reach him then patted the hull. “I take it that the box you’re carrying are samples and the main delivery is in here?”
“You know it is, Walish Din,” she said miserably. “Look, this is not going to work. You know that. More than likely, we’ll both end up as worm food.”
“I need you to release your cargo.”
She pushed past the Diannin and scrambled onto the hull of her ship then walked along the roof. The girl kneeled down and opened a grey panel. “You staying down there, Walish Din? As soon as those worms are released, you’re going to be their first lump of fresh meat.”
How stupid could he be? Walish Din followed her example and climbed onto the roof of her cargo ship. “Sorry.”
She tur
ned to him. “It’s not too late to look for another solution. Once I activate the release clamps, there will be no backing away.”
“Do it.”
The girl fought back a sob. “Shit.”
She inputted a series of numbers then slammed the panel shut. Sure enough, the bay doors slid back and an auto-arm lifted four cubes out from the inside of the ship and deposited them on the sand. Walish Din crawled forward, held the edges of the hull, and watched the lids open. As soon as the moonlight hit the worms, they frantically wiggled out and dropped onto the floor.
There were hundreds of humans standing on this plain, and it looked like twice that number had left those boxes with more dropping out. It took seconds for that writhing mass to reach the first humans. They immediately burrowed into the ankles of the first humans.
“Keep still and don’t make a single noise,” she hissed.
As the worms spread through the human incubators, Walish Din spotted additional movement at the edges. Sure enough, several orange dragons were now running towards the humans, closely followed by double the number of blue natives. They all pushed through the large armour-plated monsters, oblivious to the danger posed by the guardians of the humans.
Not one of those orange dragons raised their staff weapons. They obviously dare not fire those vile, flesh-melting weapons so close to the humans. The blue native rushed through the human statues and literally dived into the worm masses, flying their arms out and trying to funnel the worms towards their mouths.
The orange dragons thundered after them but astonishingly, the monsters didn’t try to stop the natives; instead, they all made their way straight towards the girl’s cargo ship.
“They’re coming for us,” she hissed. “They’re going to turn us and my ship into molten slush!”
Chapter Thirteen
A few moments after the Chaplain’s shocking announcement, he had approached Cole and asked him how he felt. Danny had told him that the Chaplain had no other option and had no antagonistic feelings over the man’s decision.
Could the man tell that Cole really wanted to throw him out of the airlock? In fact, at this moment, while watching the other humans in this living ship, he wanted to space every single one of them. His hatred towards them didn’t stop at the humans either. Cladinus, his so-called friend, stood at the back of the room, silently watching them discuss his fate. Not once had the Gizanti offered a valid reason as to why they shouldn’t obey their Imperial orders. He just stood there, not moving and observing.
His imaginary self hadn’t shut up about hidden agendas, and right now, Cole felt that the Chaplain, Cladinus, the forces of the God-Emperor, and all the others had tied thick wire around his limbs and we’re all pulling him in different directions.
It made him wonder how that man who had Cole’s life in the palms of his hands would have chosen if Cole hadn’t had his latest vision right in front of them. It seemed incredibly coincidental to experience another vision right at the time when the fate of his life hung in the balance. Could another, unknown force be at work here? Cole shook his head. Why not? Let’s add another somebody’s hidden agenda to the list. He had a spare wire and they could always tie the end to his nose.
They would alter course, but not for the shipyards. It didn’t matter how much hot air and Imperial doctrine spewed from Trooper Magnus’s slimy mouth, the Gizanti would ask the ship to speed towards the birthing planet that he saw in his vision.
He turned away and walked back into the drive room and sat in one of the human-made chairs. They could all argue until they ran out of breath for all he cared.
“Try not to allow their confusion of allegiance to upset you, Danny. Remember, your fellow shipmates are fighting against Imperial brainwashing. I’m surprised that you’re still breathing. They could have killed you as soon as the Chaplain announced the change in the orders.”
His voice of reason leaned against the wall opposite him, seemingly oblivious to the wet, crimson goo now sliding down the front of his tunic.
“The Empire have had thousands of years to perfect their techniques in order to stop their own from rebelling and bringing upon a much-needed revolution. How apt for the cracks to widen due to their own short-sightedness.”
“So how does your theory explain me? I don’t feel in any way brainwashed.”
“You are special, Danny. You’ve known this all your life.”
His voice of reason walked up to one of the sleep-pods and brushed the tips of his fingers along the outer case. Cole watched in fascination as the red slime dripped off the man’s tunic splattered onto the floor and promptly vanished.
“There’s nothing special about me,” he replied.
“Believe it or not, we are both right. You see, you are not all that special. Hundreds like you are born around the Empire every year. Despite the Imperial geneticists meddling with the human base code, and switching off the areas which encourages such traits as free will, defiance, and creativity, a few are still born which, if not caught, have the potential to become a real pain in the Empire’s side once they get older.” His voice of reason laughed. “You, my friend, are the only one in thousands of years who slipped through the net. You alone were not diagnosed with these deviant attributes and thrown into the incinerator. It’s what separates you from the trillions of other members of your species, Danny Cole. Ironically enough, it’s also the reason why you became the best ever squad leader the Empire ever had.”
“Oh? Then why are those men still thinking about tossing me out of the airlock? That doesn’t exactly tell me that I’ve won their hearts and minds.”
“Did you expect any different? You have not commanded your squad on a single mission yet. Believe me. After a couple of planetary drops, those men would die for you.”
Why didn’t the alien wake his new squad when they landed on old Earth? If what his voice of reason had said was true, then that alone could have stopped them from potentially endangering his life. Another hidden agenda?
“Who is responsible for all of this? For a start, there’s no way that you are just a figment of my imagination, meaning that you are some outside force. Also, why have I suddenly started sharing visions with the God-Emperor? The Chaplain has even hinted that my visions are so much more defined, more detailed.” Cole walked up to his voice of reason and placed his hand on Mr. Smith’s shoulders. It worried him slightly that he felt very solid under his fingers.
“Walish Din believes that you are all caught in a vast cosmic web, created by some unnamed God. I suppose that a good enough answer.”
“Was he the alien I saw in my vision?”
“Yes. His race is called the Diannin. There are a gentle species who keep to themselves. The Empire have known about them for hundreds of years, and yet they have managed to live through two Imperial purges when they expanded their territory. This was either by luck or,” his voice of reason winked, “perhaps by design?”
Before he could respond, Mr. Smith did his annoying vanishing act, leaving Cole genuinely alone. He walked back over to the human built seat and sat down, feeling very tired. He still had little idea of what was going on.
Cole took his mind back the events which dominated his last vision. More of one event, really. That was watching the alien and the human female running away from those Gizanti warriors. He witnessed the power of those weapons carried by the huge orange monsters and understood why the Empire was so afraid. There was no defence against a weapon like that. He watched two of them aim and fire at a grounded cargo ship. The blasts turned it into a lump of fused metal. No hand-held device he knew of could release such a huge amount of energy in one burst. Only Imperial warships possessed that capability.
He guessed that the cargo-ship wasn’t the primary target. That dubious honour went to the girl and her alien companion. The pair had dived out of the way seconds before the huge aliens had opened fire.
They ran through dozens of human bodies in a desperate attempt to escape the Gizanti purs
uers. Cole ran with them, listening to their panting. He needed to know what was happening. Why did none of these humans respond as they pushed past them? How did they all get here and where were they? It also occurred to Cole that somewhere inside him, he probably knew the answers to some of the questions if only he could remember his earlier visions.
Cole could not pose the questions to these two as he was just a passenger; he had no control over this body. He ran just behind the furry alien, stepping where he stepped, and looking at whatever caught Walish Din’s attention. He felt like the alien’s shadow. Walish Din glanced over his shoulder, worry and concern etched across his face. It didn’t surprise Cole to find that he had no problem in understanding the alien’s facial expressions. “We’re almost through!”
That wasn’t directed at him. He found his head turning around. The girl smiled.
“There’s a trench a few metres to the left. Head towards it. The one will take us to the nearest settlement.”
It struck Cole just how connected he had felt while he’d been running with the girl and the Diannin. Despite not even meeting them, they felt like the family he’d never had. He certainly felt closer to them than this motley bunch in here.
The girl was very beautiful. He wanted to know more about her, especially how she ended up in the company of the furry alien. Cole sighed. “Instead of me.”
Cole stood up when the Chaplain entered the room. He turned his back on the man and wrapped his fingers around the chair’s armrests. It was the only thing he could think of to stop himself to punching the man. He feared that if he swung at the Chaplain, he wouldn’t be able to stop until he’d killed him.
“Trooper Cole, I thought you should be the first one to know that the God has decreed that we are now officially classed as major heretics and consequently, every space-worthy Imperial vessel will be trying to vaporise us.”
“So I’m Trooper Cole again? That’s nice,” he remarked sarcastically. “Does this mean that the men still consider me their squad leader, or are they still deciding whether to throw me out of the airlock?” Cole gripped the armrests even tighter. “It’s okay, Chaplain. Take your time in answering, I have all day.”
