Battle Station

by Ben Bova

  They were sitting in the cool darkness of the central cave, deep inside the cliff. All the outer caves channeled back to this single large chamber, high-roofed and moss-floored, its rocks faintly phosphorescent. It was big enough to hold four or five times the clan’s present number. It was midday. Most of the people were sleeping. A few of the children, off to the rear of the cave, were scratching pictures on the packed bare earth with pointed, fist-sized rocks.

  Lee sat with his back resting against a cool stone wall. The sleepers were paired off, man and mate, for the most part. The unmated teenagers slept apart, with the older couples between them. As far as Lee could judge, the couples paired permanently, although the teens played the game about as freely as they could.

  Ardraka was dozing beside him. Lee settled back and tried to turn off his thoughts, but the old man said: “Lee is not asleep?”

  “No, Lee is not,” he answered.

  “Ardraka has seen that Lee seldom sleeps,” Ardraka said.

  “That is true.”

  “Is it that Lee does not need to sleep as Ardraka does?”

  Lee shook his head. “No, Lee needs sleep as much as Ardraka or any man.”

  “This … place … that Lee comes from. Lee says it is beyond the sea?”

  “Yes, far beyond.”

  In the faint light from the gleaming rocks, the old man’s face looked troubled, deep in difficult thought.

  “And there are men and women living in Lee’s place, men and women like the people here?”

  Lee nodded.

  “And how did Lee come here? Did Lee swim across the sea?”

  They had been through this many times. “Lee came across the edge of the sea, walking on land just as Ardraka would.”

  Laughing softly, the old man said, “Ardraka is too feeble now for such a walk. Ardra could make such a walk.”

  “Yes, Ardra can.”

  “Ardraka has tried to dream of Lee’s place, and Lee’s people. But such dreams do not come.”

  “Dreams are hard to command,” Lee said.

  “Yes, truly.”

  “And what of Ardraka and the people here?” Lee asked. “Is this the only place where such men and women live?”

  “Yes. It is the best place to live. All other places are death.”

  “There are no men and women such as Ardraka and the people here living in another place?”

  The old man thought hard a moment, then smiled a wrinkled toothless smile. “Surely Lee jokes. Lee knows that Lee’s people live in another place.”

  We’ve been around that bush before. Trying another tack, he asked, “Have Ardraka’s people always lived in this place? Did Ardraka’s father live here?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “And his father?”

  A nod.

  “And all the fathers, from the beginning of the people? All lived here, always?”

  A shrug. “No man knows.”

  “Have there always been this many people living here?” Lee asked. “Did Ardraka’s people ever fill this cave when they slept here?”

  “Oh, yes … When Ardraka was a boy, many men and women slept in the outer caves, since there was no room for them here. And when Ardraka’s father was young, men and women even slept in the lower caves.”

  “Lower caves?”

  Ardraka nodded. “Below this one, deeper inside the ground. No man or woman has been in them since Ardraka became chief.”

  “Why is that?”

  The old man evaded Lee’s eyes. “They are not needed.”

  “May Lee visit these lower caves?”

  “Perhaps,” Ardraka said. After a moment’s thought, he added, “Children have been born and grown to manhood and died since any man set foot in those caves. Perhaps they are gone now. Perhaps Ardraka does not remember how to find them.”

  “Lee would like to visit the lower caves.”

  Late that night he walked the beach alone, under the glowing star-poor sky, giving his weekly report back to the ship.

  “He’s been cagey about the lower caves,” Lee said as the outstretched fingers of surf curled around his ankles.

  “Why should he be so cautious?” It was Marlene’s voice. She was taking the report this night.

  “Because he’s no fool, that’s why. These people have never seen a stranger before … not for generations, at least. Therefore their behavior toward me is original, not instinctive. If he’s leery of showing me the caves, it’s for some reason that’s fresh in his mind, not some hoary tribal taboo.”

  “Then what do you intend to do?”

  “I’m not sure yet—” Lee turned to head back down the beach and saw Ardra standing twenty paces behind him.

  “Company,” he snapped. “Talk to you later. Keep listening.”

  Advancing toward him, Ardra said, “Many nights, Ardra has seen Lee leave the cave and walk on the beach. Tonight Lee was talking, but Lee was alone. Does Lee speak to a man or woman that Ardra cannot see?”

  His tone was flat, factual, neither frightened nor puzzled. It was too dark to really make out the expression on his face, but he sounded almost casual.

  “Lee is alone,” he answered as calmly as he could. “There is no man or woman here with Lee. Except Ardra.”

  “But Lee speaks and then is silent. And then Lee speaks again.”

  He knows a conversation when he hears one, even if it’s only one side of it and in a strange language.

  Ardra suggested, “Perhaps Lee speaks to men and women from Lee’s place, which is far from the sea?”

  “Does Ardra believe that Lee can speak to men and women far away from this place?”

  “Ardra believes that is what Lee does at night on the beach. Lee speaks with the karta.”

  “Karta? What is the meaning of karta?”

  “It is an ancient word. It means men and women who live in another place.”

  Others, Lee translated to himself. “Yes,” he said to Ardra, “Lee speaks to the others.”

  Ardra’s breath seemed to catch momentarily, then he said with deliberate care, “Lee speaks with the Others.” His voice had an edge of steel to it now.

  What have I stepped into?

  “It is time to be sleeping, not walking the beach,” Ardra said in a tone that Lee knew was a command. And he started walking toward the caves.

  Lee outweighed the chief’s son by a good twenty pounds and was some ten centimeters taller. But he had seen the speed and strength in Ardra’s wiry frame and knew the difference in reaction times that the fifteen years between them made. So he didn’t run or fight; he followed Ardra back to the caves and obediently went to sleep. And all the night Ardra stayed awake and watched over him.

  IX

  The next morning, when the men went out to fish and the women to gather greens, Ardra took Lee’s arm and led him toward the back of the central cave. Ardraka and five other elders were waiting for them. They all looked very grim. Only then did Lee realize that Ardra was carrying a spear in his other hand.

  They were sitting in a ragged semicircle, their backs to what looked like a tunnel entrance, their eyes hard on Lee. He sat at their focus, with Ardra squatting beside him.

  “Lee,” Ardraka began without preliminaries, “why is it that Lee wishes to see the lower caves?”

  The question caught him by surprise. “Because … Lee wishes to learn more about Ardraka’s people. Lee comes from far away, and knows little of Ardraka’s people.”

  “Is it true,” one of the elders asked, “that Lee speaks at night with the Others?” His inflection made the word sound special, fearful, ominous.

  “Lee speaks to the men and women of the place where Lee came from. It is like the way Ardraka speaks to Ardraka’s grandfather … in a dream.”

  “But Ardraka sleeps when doing this. Lee is awake.”

  Ardra broke in, “Lee says Lee’s people live beyond the sea. Beyond the sea is the sky. Do Lee’s people live in the sky?”

  Off the edge of the wo
rld, just like Columbus. “Yes,” he admitted. “Lee’s people live in the sky—”

  “See!” Ardra shouted. “Lee is of the Others!”

  The councilmen physically backed away from him. Even Ardraka seemed shaken.

  “Lee is of the Others,” Ardra repeated. “Lee must be killed, before he kills Ardraka’s people!”

  “Kill?” Lee felt stunned. He had never heard any of them speak of violence before.

  “Why should Lee kill the people here?”

  They were all babbling at once. Ardraka raised his hand for silence.

  “To kill a man is very serious,” he said painfully. “It is not certain that Lee is of the Others.”

  “Lee says it with Lee’s own mouth!” Ardra insisted. “Why else did Lee come here? Why does Lee want to see the lower caves?”

  Ardraka glowered at his son, and the younger man stopped. “The council must be certain before it acts.”

  Struggling to keep his voice calm, Ardra ticked off on his fingers, “Lee says Lee’s people live in the sky … the Others live in the sky. Lee wishes to see the lower caves. Why? To see if more of Ardraka’s people are living there, so that he can kill all the people!”

  The council members murmured and glanced at him fearfully. Starting to look like a lynch jury.

  “Wait,” Lee said. “There is more to the truth than what Ardra says. Lee’s people live in the sky … that is true. But that does not mean that Lee’s people are the Others. The sky is wide and larger … wider than the sea, by far. Many different peoples can live in the sky.”

  Ardraka nodded, his brows knitted in concentration. “But, Lee, if both Lee’s people and the Others live in the sky, why have not the Others destroyed Lee’s people as they destroyed Ardraka’s ancestors?”

  Lee felt his stomach drop out of him. So that’s it!

  “Yes,” one of the councilmen said. “The Others live far from this land, yet the Others came here and destroyed Ardraka’s forefathers and all the works of such men and women.”

  “Tell Lee what happened,” he said, stalling for time to work out answers. “Lee knows nothing about the Others.” Not from your side of the war, anyway.

  Ardraka glanced around at the council members sitting on both sides of him. They looked uncertain, wary, still afraid. Ardra, beside Lee, had the fixed glare of a born prosecutor.

  “Lee is not of Ardraka’s people,” the younger man said, barely controlling the fury in his voice. “Lee must be of the Others. There are no people except Ardraka’s people and the Others!”

  “Perhaps that is not so,” Ardraka said. “True, Ardraka has always thought it to be this way, but Lee looks like an ordinary man, not like the Others.”

  Ardra huffed. “No living man has seen the Others. How can Ardraka say …”

  “Because Ardraka has seen pictures of the Others,” the chief said quietly.

  “Pictures?” They were startled.

  “Yes. In the deepest cave, where only the chief can go … and the chief’s son. Ardraka has thought for a long time that soon Ardra should see the deepest cave. But no longer. Ardra must see the cave now.”

  The old man got up, stiffly, to his feet. His son was visibly trembling with eagerness.

  “May Lee also see the pictures?” Lee asked.

  They all began to protest, but Ardraka said firmly, “Lee has been accused of being of the Others. Lee stands in peril of death. It is right that Lee should see the pictures.”

  The council members muttered among themselves. Ardra glowered, then bent down and reached for the spear he had left at his feet. Lee smiled to himself. If those pictures give you the slightest excuse, you’re going to ram that thing through me. You’d make a good sheriff, kill first, then ask questions.

  Far from having forgotten his way to the deeper caves, Ardraka threaded through a honeycomb of tunnels and chambers, always picking the path that slanted downward. Lee sensed that they were spiraling deeper and deeper into the solid rock of the cliffs, far below the sea level. The walls were crusted, and a thick mat of dust clung to the ground. But everything shone with the same faint luminosity as the upper caves, and beneath the dust the footing felt more like pitted metal than rock.

  Finally Ardraka stopped. They were standing in the entryway to a fairly small chamber. The lighting was very dim. Lee stood behind Ardraka and felt Ardra’s breath on his back.

  “This is the place,” Ardraka said solemnly. His voice echoed slightly.

  They slowly entered the chamber. Ardraka walked to the farthest wall and wordlessly pointed to a jumble of lines scrawled at about eye level. The cave was dark, but the lines of the drawing glowed slightly brighter than the wall itself.

  Gradually, Lee pieced the picture together. It was crude, so crude that it was hard to understand. But there were stick figures of men that seemed to be running, and rough outlines of what might be buildings, with curls of smoke rising up from them. Above them all were circular things, ships, with dots for ports. Harsh jagged lines were streaking out of them and toward the stick figures.

  “Men and women,” Ardraka said, in a reverent whisper as he pointed to the stick drawings. “The men and women of the time of Ardraka’s farthest ancestors. And here”—his hand flashed to the circles —“are the Others.”

  Even in the dim light, Lee could see Ardra’s face gaping at the picture. “The Others,” he said, his voice barely audible.

  “Look at Lee,” Ardraka commanded his son. “Does Lee look like the Others, or like a man?”

  Ardra seemed about to crumble. He said shakily, “Lee … Ardra has misjudged Lee … Ardra is ashamed.”

  “There is no shame,” Lee said. “Ardra has done no harm. Ardra was trying to protect Ardraka’s people.” And besides, you were right.

  Turning to Ardraka, Lee asked, “Is this all that you know of the Others?”

  “Ardraka knows that the Others killed the people of Ardraka’s forefathers. Before the Others came, Ardraka’s ancestors lived in splendor; their living places covered the land everywhere; they swam the seas without fear of any creature of the deep; they leaped through the sky and laughed at the winds and storms; every day was bright and good and there was no night. Then the Others came and destroyed everything. The Others turned the sky to fire and brought night. Only the people in the deepest cave survived. This was the deepest cave. Only the people of Ardraka escaped the Others.”

  We destroyed this world, Lee told himself. An interstellar war, eons ago. We destroyed each other, old man. Only you’ve been destroyed for good, and we climbed back.

  “One more thing remains,” Ardraka said. He walked into the shadows on the other end of the room and pushed open a door. A door! It was metal, Lee could feel as he went past it. There was another chamber, larger.

  A storeroom! Shelves lined the walls. Most of them empty, but here and there were boxes, containers, machinery with strange writing on it.

  “These belonged to Ardraka’s oldest ancestors,” the chief said. “No man today knows why these things were saved here in the deepest cave. They have no purpose. They are dead. As dead as the people who put them here.”

  It was Lee who was trembling as they made their way up to the dwelling caves.

  X

  It was a week before he dared stroll the beach at night again, a week of torment, even though Ardra never gave him the slightest reason to think that he was still under suspicion.

  They were just as stunned as he was when he told them about it.

  “We killed them,” he whispered savagely at them, back in the comfort of the ship. “We destroyed them. Maybe we even made the Pup explode, to wipe them out completely.”

  “That’s … farfetched,” Rassmussen answered. But his voice sounded lame.

  “What do we do now?”

  “I want to see those artifacts.”

  “Yes, but how?”

  Lee said, “I can take you down to the cave, if we can put the whole clan to sleep for a few hours. Maybe gas …�
�

  “That could work,” Rassmussen agreed.

  “A soporific gas?” Pascual’s soft tenor rang incredulously in Lee’s ears. “But we haven’t the faintest idea of how it might affect them.”

  “It’s the only way,” Lee said. “You can’t dig your way into the cave … even if you could, they would hear it, and you’d be discovered.”

  “But gas … it could kill them all.”

  “They’re all dead right now,” Lee snapped. “Those artifacts are the only possible clue to their early history.”

  Rassmussen decided. “We’ll do it.”

  Lee slept less than ever the next few nights, and when he did he dreamed, but no longer about the buildings on Titan. Now he dreamed of the ships of an ancient Earth, huge round ships that spat fire on the cities and people of Makta. He dreamed of the Pup exploding and showering the planet with fire, blowing off the atmosphere, boiling the oceans, turning mountains into glass slag, killing every living thing on the surface of the world, leaving the planet bathed in a steam cloud, its ground ruptured with angry new volcanoes.

  It was a rainy dark night when you could hardly see ten meters beyond the cave’s mouth that they came. Lee heard their voices in his head as they drove the skimmer up onto the beach and clambered down from it and headed for the caves. Inside the caves, the people were asleep, sprawled innocently on the damp musty ground.

  Out of the rain a huge, bulky metal shape materialized, walking with exaggerated caution.

  “Hello, Sid,” Jerry Grote’s voice said in his head, and the white metal shape raised a hand in greeting.

  The Others, Lee thought as he watched four more powersuited figures appear in the dark rain.

  He stepped out of the cave, the rain a cold shock to his body. “Bring the stuff?”

  Grote hitched a gauntleted thumb at one of the others. “Pascual’s got it. He’s insisting on administering the gas himself.”

  “Okay, but let’s get it done quickly, before somebody wakes up and spots you. Who else is with you?”

  “Chien, Tanaka, and Stek. Tanaka can help Carlos with the anesthetic. Chien and Stek can look over the artifacts.”