by Randy Dyess
“We’re not safe here,” Michael said. “We avoided the spiders, so far, but they may come back. It just doesn’t feel safe.”
“What makes you an expert?” the hotheaded man asked.
“If you would look around, you’d see that there are still spider ships flying around the city. One of them could land here at any minute.”
“We don’t know what they’re going to do after they’re finished capturing people,” Sergeant Major McCoons added. “They could be bringing down reinforcements and heavy weapons. Once they’re done in the city, they might make a push into the countryside. We just don’t know, and we can’t take the risk.”
“Then why are we here and not farther out in the country?” the man asked. “What makes this island so important?”
“What?” Michael asked. He had blocked the man out and was trying to concentrate on something he saw over the city.
“Why do we need to go the island? Why not just hold up here?”
“The island doesn’t have a clearing large enough for their ships to land,” Michael replied.
“What makes you think they won’t blast a landing spot like they did in the city?”
“They can’t control their bombs enough to hit certain targets—the clearings in the city were random. It’s like they lose control of their weapon, whatever it is, as it comes through the atmosphere. Besides, if they blast the island, we’re going to be dead, anyway.”
Sergeant Major McCoons said, “Plasma balls.”
“What?”
“Tech Sergeant Chen said he thought they were plasma balls. Controlled plasma weapons are way beyond our current weapons capabilities, but they’re theoretically possible.”
Screams erupted from the crowd; a spider ship in the distance was coming toward them. They had to do something, or they would all be spider food.
“In the water!” Michael shouted.
“Can’t we just be still, like you said?”
“We’re in the open—there’s nothing to blend in with. Swim for the island!”
He ran to the edge of the lake and turned around. Michael knew he couldn’t fight off more than one or two spiders, but he was determined to help as many people as he could. He watched McCoons and Skylar enter the water and was about to dive in, himself, when he saw a group running toward a cabin, instead. The hothead was leading the way.
Damn fools, he thought. He watched to see if there was anything he could do as the spider ship landed between the cabin and the lake. Dozens of spiders raced out of the ship and toward the cabin, which Michael thought was odd, since over a dozen people had still not made it into the water. This confirmed that they mindlessly attacked the nearest prey they saw.
He watched as they swarmed cabin, easily jumping to the top of the structure as they looked for ways in. Several of the spiders took turns ramming into the door; after three or four hits, it splintered and the monsters rushed in. A minute later, a few spiders left the cabin and headed toward Michael and the few survivors who weren’t in the water. Five spiders exited the cabin carrying human-shaped cocoons.
“Swim!” Michael shouted again.
He dove in and swam away before turning around once more. The ten people who’d stayed behind had walked into the water up to their chests, but would not go any further. They must not know how to swim, he thought as he headed back toward them. The spiders rushed the edge of the lake, but stopped at the edge; they wouldn’t go any farther.
“They’re afraid of the water! We might be safe in the shallows,” Michael called out. Just then, a group of spiders turned around and backed up to the water. A large stream of silk flew out of each of them, and their aim was deadly. The silk plastered to the survivors, and the spiders started reeling them in, like fish on a line.
Michael watched as the ten people were hauled out of the water and wrapped up in silk. He noted that the spiders didn’t seem to mind getting wet from their prey. They carried their cargo aboard the ship, which headed back toward the city. Without another thought, he turned around to catch up with the others who were swimming madly for the island.
*****
He’d made it halfway when he happened to glance up to see a spider ship. It flew over the island and three dark shapes jumped out and fell to the ground. A few seconds later, it clicked. “There are spiders on the island!”
He couldn’t yell loud enough to be heard by the whole group, so he swam harder than he ever had in his life to get close enough to warn them.
“Stop! There are spiders on the island!” Michael called as loud as he could. Several of the slowest swimmers heard him and stopped. The swimmers who had heard him started shouting to the others, and one by one, all of the swimmers, except for a few near the island’s edge, stopped.
Michael swam as quickly as he could, but he failed to make it in time; he watched as five people walked onto the beach. They were tired and failed to notice the spiders heading for them as they looked toward the lake, wondering why everyone had stopped swimming.
The three spiders grabbed three men, and the group in the water watched in horror as they went limp. The spiders spun them around and had covered them in silk in no more than ten seconds. The man and woman who still remained on shore had finally regained their senses and realized they needed to get back in the water; they wearily dragged themselves toward it as the spiders walked right past them.
“Get back into the water,” Michael shouted, “and stay up to your necks!”
“Why?” Skylar asked as she and Sergeant Major McCoons made their way to Michael.
“The spiders are afraid of water, but they can still capture you if you aren’t deep enough. A group wouldn’t go deep enough into the water, and the spiders shot silk at them and dragged them out.”
The survivors watched as the spiders made their way to the tallest structure on the island. Once there, the spider ship came back and hovered over the watch tower. One by one, the monsters leaped into the ship. It flew off, leaving the group wondering how the hell they were going to survive another attack.
Michael waited what he thought was fifteen minutes. “We need to get out of the water. I’m going to the island to look it over.”
“I’ll go with you,” Sergeant Major McCoons said.
“No offense, Sergeant Major, but what are you going to do if there are spiders on the island? I’m the only one with a weapon. Besides, you need to take care of the group if something happens to me.”
Sergeant Major McCoons didn’t respond as he watched Michael swim to the beach. Once he’d made it, he pulled out his sword and shook the water off it.
Michael took thirty minutes to search every inch of the island. Once he was satisfied that no spiders were hiding in the shadows, he went back to the beach and let everyone know they could come ashore.
He was exhausted as he lay on the beach, trying to keep his eyes open. He was sure he’d checked out the entire island, but he couldn’t rest until he knew his small band of survivors was safe.
*****
The group of weary swimmers struggled ashore and dropped as soon as they were out of the lake. The cold water, the long swim, and the stress of the spider attacks had taken its toll. “Everyone rest, but keep an eye out for more ships. If the spiders come back, go back into the water,” Michael told the group.
“What are we going to do now?” Skylar asked.
“I’m going to rest. We’re not out of this, yet,” Michael said.
“I have a lighter—can we make a fire? I’m cold,” a young woman asked.
“I don’t know. A fire might attract them to the island,” Michael said. He looked at Sergeant Major McCoons.
“We need to warm up. If the fire seems to draw them here, it goes out and we go back in the water,” he said. “Divide up in groups of four or five. One watches the sky while the others sleep. If you have to go to the restroom, go in groups with someone always watching the sky for spider ships. Hopefully the Senate or Candus Corporation will hear abou
t this and send help as soon as they can.”
The survivors divided themselves into small groups and started making fires to dry their clothes and warm up. Michael found himself with Sergeant Major McCoons, Skylar, Doctor Jones, and another man he had not met.
“So, Doc, what do you think about the spiders? Are they acting like normal spiders?” Michael asked.
“Yes, for the most part. Except for their ships, they act just like all other spiders.”
The unknown man introduced himself to the others. “I’ve never seen spiders attack in groups. Is that common?”
“No, they usually live alone. Even when they build their webs together, they attack alone.” Dr. Jones said.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that they act like mindless animals when attacking, but have technology beyond ours?” Michael asked.
“Yes. I don’t know what to think of it,” Dr. Jones said.
“I think this discussion can wait for when we’re better rested,” Sergeant Major McCoons said. “I’ll take the first watch and I will wake one of you in a few hours.”
The rest of the group agreed and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. They were so exhausted that it didn’t take long before all of them were sound asleep.
*****
“Why didn’t you wake me?” Michael asked the sergeant major as the sun came over the horizon. “We were supposed to take turns on watch.”
“I wasn’t tired and you were. Besides, nothing happened last night.”
“Did anything go on this morning?”
“No, just ships coming and going from the city, now that the sun is up. I didn’t see any lights last night—I don’t think those ships have any exterior lights. They seem to be slowing down, though.”
“How’s that?”
“The trips are taking longer, and there are fewer ships in our area. I don’t know if they’ve moved on to somewhere else, or if they’re done with their raid and are preparing to skip town.”
“Maybe it’s over,” Michael said. He looked at Skylar and the other man. “Should we wake them and get moving?”
“No, not yet. Let them sleep for a while longer. If we are going to walk to the spaceport today, they’re going to need their rest. It’s only a few hours’ walk from here, and we can take our time. Everyone had a bad day yesterday and is exhausted.”
“Why don’t you get some sleep? I can take over from here,” Michael said.
“I’m not tired. I lost twenty-four good men yesterday and I just can’t figure out what I could have done differently. I’ve gone over the battle all night long. Besides having a few swords, I just can’t figure out what we could have done differently.”
“I don’t know. Maybe having a sword is the answer,” Michael said. “It’s like we need swords and spears against these monsters and not modern weapons.”
“Huh,” Sergeant Major McCoons said. If these things are going to be a problem, maybe I need to find some swords and teach my men how to use them. He had lost men in combat before, but the one-sided slaughter on the rooftop bothered him. His men hadn’t stood a chance, and he believed he had somehow failed them in their training and his leadership. He should have insisted they carry knives like his. It had saved his life more than once, and it could have saved theirs, as well. Who cared about some five-hundred-year old law against them?
Michael and McCoons didn’t say anything else as they let watched the ships come and go on the horizon. After two hours, the number of ships had dropped from two or three every ten minutes to one every ten or fifteen minutes. By the end of the third hour, no one had seen a spider ship for over thirty minutes.
“Let’s give it another two hours with no activity and then we’ll go,” Sergeant Major McCoons said. “I want to head to the spaceport and see if there’s any way off this planet. If the Marines or Navy are going to help us, they’ll land there first.”
“Do you think the Senate and the Terran Navy and Marines will get involved?” Michael asked.
“I doubt it, but don’t want the others to know that. I also doubt that this was the first time these things attacked. I’ve been in the Marines for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I trust our leaders. They are just as corrupt and useless as Terran Navy officers and the Senate. I’m sure the loss of Candus means some other corporation has some planet to fill the need. It’s all just a game to those people—we’re nothing to them.”
“I guess,” Michael replied.
“I don’t need to guess,” Sergeant Major McCoons said. “I can tell you that outer-rim worlds are nothing to corers. We’re basically slaves and cannon fodder for them.” Michael thought about how, despite this, his father had managed to change his family’s world. Now he had nothing left to show for all those years of his dad’s hard work, though.
Sergeant Major McCoons guessed what was going through his mind. “Michael, I know you think it was all for nothing, but look at what you were able to do. You saved a bunch of people and were probably the only one on this entire planet, besides me, to kill one of those things.”
“Maybe, but that doesn’t help me, now. I have nothing, except this sword. There’s no way I can move somewhere else and start over. I probably don’t even have any credits left in the bank—Candus probably already emptied it out. They’ll probably try to charge us for any rescue.”
“I don’t doubt that.” Sergeant Major McCoons said. “Why don’t you come with me? I can pull some strings and get you assigned to my assault team. I’ll need to rebuild it, and you’d make a great team member. With your skills, you can teach us all how to fight with swords. Something tells me this is not going to be the last time we’ll have to fight these monsters.”
“Thanks, Sergeant Major McCoons,” Michael said. “I’ll think about it.”
“Call me Alphus,” the sergeant major said, “at least until you join up.”
“Okay,” Michael smiled.
“Once you leave here, you won’t be allowed back. If you don’t go with me, though, no one’s going to come get you.”
“You think they’ll prevent us from leaving or coming back?”
“Yes. They’ll quarantine this planet, and if we don’t find a way off soon, we’re going to be stuck here.”
“They won’t come back for you?”
“No. If I make it off, then fine, but they won’t lift a finger to help me.”
“Why not?”
“Remember, I’m just some enlisted man who grew up on a planet, like you did. I’m not an officer or someone who matters. If I can’t make it, they’ll write me off and fill my spot with another expendable outer-rimmer.”
“And you want me to join up with you?”
“Don’t get me wrong—I’m still treated better than one of these corporate world employees,” Alphus said. “We haven’t been given much in life, so we have to make the best of it while we can. Serving in the Marines is still better than dying in some mine, or digging up potatoes for decades.”
“I guess you’re right,” Michael said.
Chapter 17
The small band of thirty survivors stood on the beach, looking at Michael and Alphus. “Listen up,” the sergeant major said, “I know most of you are willing to follow us, but I want to give you another opportunity to agree to our plans. We have been watching the spider ships over the city: they’ve stopped or moved on, and we haven’t seen any in several hours. Michael, here, believes it’s time to leave.”
“What do you mean leave? We just got here! Why should be follow him?”
“Without him, you wouldn’t be alive. If you want to live, shut your mouths and open your ears.”
The crowd quickly settled down, and came to the realization that the marine was right. This young man had brought them to safety and had managed to make it through the city and to the park without losing anyone. It wasn’t until they refused to follow his directions that anyone was taken.
“So, now what?”
“Now,” Michael said, “we swim back
and raid the stores for supplies. We may be safe here for the moment, but there’s no food and no real shelter.”
“Are we going to stay there?”
“No. We should move on to the spaceport. It’s only a few hours’ walk.”
“We need to find a way off of this planet,” Sergeant Major McCoons replied, “and the spaceport is our best chance at doing so. I’ve been in the Marines for a long time and have had to deal with corers for decades. They don’t care about us; they will close this planet and leave us here to die.”
Michael expected the crowd to argue with Alphus, but no one said a word. They all knew how those who lived on core planets viewed outer-rim people.
