Planets Falling

by James G. Scotson

  Sam announces that a large number of cold, human-shaped targets are approaching the east side of the building. I peer out the window at the bodies. Most are naked but in remarkably good condition. We fire rapidly, covering the snow in a thick brown mist of body parts and inanimate fog. The bodies keep coming like a stream of ants. As the day wears on, the corpses begin spreading out, as if they are testing our defenses for weaknesses. At dusk in the lodge’s artificial light, the onslaught ends.

  We stand in our windows waiting for the inevitable. A human shape appears beyond the lodge lights. Bets takes aim. Theo says, "No, wait."

  To my dismay and disgust, I recognize the figure as Thresh's half-dead sister as it ambles toward the front stoop of the lodge. It croaks, "Amy Marksman."

  Looks of concern and confusion focus on me. I even sense it on the alien Iggy's face. "She's a messenger," I say quietly.

  I crack open the door and peek out. "What are your terms?"

  "Join us."

  "What happens to my companions?"

  "They live."

  "What guarantees do I have?"

  "My sister does not lie."

  That’s not much of a guarantee coming from a living corpse. I look at the grey, shriveled creature before me with scratches torn across its face, searching for any sign of life in its eyes. The orbs stare through me, white marbles with no depth. I raise my rifle and finally send the poor thing to its grave. I yell back into the lodge, "I guess we're fighting."

  The grubs appear almost instantly in the tree line. Gorian mutters, "Here we go." She pushes a button and a blinding pink light flashes, billowing smoke next to a group of them. When the grey haze clears, we see that they're gone. Theo whoops. Bets is less optimistic. "Theo, we only have a limited number of those. After one more charge, that part of the perimeter will be open. We need to concentrate our fire there."

  As she expected, the grubs begin to move toward the apparent gap. Gorian fires the second charge, immolating them. Bets commands, "Now that's open space for them to advance. Keep shooting there. Hopefully, these things will look for another gap and we can blow some more charges."

  We use our rifles at the highest settings. The grubs seem to be irritated by the shots and don't advance. A few look for other passageways through our perimeter. Additional charges explode as Gorian maintains our defense. To our dismay, Thresh's live soldiers appear at the periphery. There are about a hundred souls and they look terrified. A pink charge ignites near them and about half are incinerated. The survivors run back into the forest.

  “Regroup and advance,” a voice I recognize as Jonah’s bellows. Thresh and Jonah appear on horseback. More soldiers advance on the line. Thresh sends the grubs back toward the opening in our perimeter. They resist our fire and begin to spread out inside of the lodge grounds.

  “Oh shit,” Gorian exclaims. “This is a circus.” She begins igniting a series of secondary mines, which the grubs ignore. We fire the few rockets we have at the creatures with no apparent effect. The living soldiers file in behind them, occasionally shooting flaming arrows at the lodge, with no effect. More mines ignite, blowing bits and pieces of Thresh’s human army across the bloody snow. The screams of the injured are appalling.

  We pick off the live soldiers the best we can but they’re advancing quickly. The grubs head for the doors and windows. A pod of corpses overwhelm our fire and scratch at the outside walls. Theo exclaims, “There’re too damn many of them. What should we do?”

  Gorian curses and says, “Sam, shutter us in.”

  The doors and windows transform to metal with a satisfying thud, reverberating through the building. “How long do you think they’ll hold?” Bets asks.

  Gorian shrugs. “The building’s built like a bunker with those stone and concrete walls. There’s a reason it’s lasted over a thousand years. Without explosives, they’ll have trouble getting to us. It all depends on how strong the grubs are.”

  The sound of the siege outside is muffled. Sam streams images of the attackers on Gorian’s tablet computer. Thresh and Jonah tower over the soldiers on their horses. They’re clearly frustrated, shouting orders. The grubs have surrounded the lodge and scratch at the sealed openings, with no success. A few of the live soldiers climb onto the roof, discovering the surface is solid metal. They stuff a couple of corpses into the chimney, thinking that they might smoke us out. They don’t realize that we have an alternative heat and cooking source thanks to Sam. We close the flue to stop the stench from wafting inside.

  Iggy sprays himself from a bottle. “We seemed to have bought ourselves some time.”

  “But for how long?” Bets takes a long draught of water. “They’ll eventually figure out a way to get in here.”

  I gaze at Thresh and her lover on Gorian’s screen. The horses that she and Jonah are using are Phineus and Silius. What else will this woman take from me?

  After a few hours, Thresh and most of her troops recede into the forest. A few grubs and soldiers remain. The injured have long frozen to death, their bodies awaiting Thresh to revive them. The animated dead animals and humans wander aimlessly, to the disgust of their living companions.

  “Where’d they all go I wonder?” Theo asks.

  I pause for a moment. I can feel Thresh nearby. “They’re not far away. I gather they’re regrouping, looking for ways to break into the building.”

  We hear a large tree crashing in the forest. Iggy nods. “There’s your answer. They are going to use a tree as a battering ram. An ancient, yet effective technique.”

  Gorian perks up. “Sam, given the thickness of the security shutters, how will the entrance stand up to a two ton tree?”

  “It is difficult for me to calculate accurately. Given the tensile strength of the shutter material and the concentrated force of the log, assuming it is a pine, the front door can withstand twenty to thirty impacts before buckling.”

  Gorian slumps back into her chair, her belly hanging precariously over her knees. “I never thought I’d say this, but it’s time to pray to your gods.”

  Theo appears from the kitchen. “Well, if this be our last meal, we might as well make it worth our while. I scored a cask of ale from storage. It’s wonderful. Let’s eat and drink to our health.”

  “And long life,” Iggy adds.

  Bets chuckles grimly.

  We eat grimly, trying to ignore the eerie silence outside the lodge walls. Theo spoons some of the green goop that Iggy’s eating into his mouth. He grimaces. “How do you live on that stuff? It’s rank.”

  Gorian muses looking nowhere in particular. “Grey loves Iggy’s food.” She sighs.

  "Theo, this goop is similar to the algae that we eat on nauron. Nothing like it exists on earth. I very much miss the taste of the real stuff. Perhaps you will have an opportunity to try it someday if we can leave earth." Iggy takes another bite.

  "You mean if we make it out of here alive." Bets finishes her glass of ale and pours another.

  "Slow down there Bets my girl." Theo puts his hand over his cup, gesturing for her to do the same. "We're going to have to fight soon."

  "What's the point?"

  "Bets, you've never backed down. Ever. Don't make me sad and disappointed." He wrinkles his nose. "Have some faith."

  "In what, exactly? English had faith and it sucked him down a giant drain hole. We need to be realistic. They're going to break down that door and tear us apart."

  Iggy sets down his spoon and looks intently at Bets with his dark, glossy eyes. "Even if they win, we'll hurt them badly. However, it seems to me that we need to stop Thresh to prevail. Any thoughts?"

  "Deep down she's a coward," I say. "She'll stay back until every last one of her troops are dead, including Jonah, the man that was with her on Silius. She'll never give us the opportunity for a fair fight. If she loses to us, she'll walk away, regroup, and keep attacking until we give up."

  Sam speaks. "Excuse me. I regret that Iggy was correct. They are using four of the creatures - gru
bs as you call them - to carry a 10-meter-long log to the entrance. They will begin battering the door within moments."

  "Sam, please cut the outdoor lights. Also, dim the lights in here by ninety percent."

  "Certainly Gorian." The lights dim.

  "Well guys that should make things a bit awkward out there until they can start a fire for light. We need to be ready for them when they breach the door. I suggest we barrage them with suppressing fire as long as we can. When they finally break through our defense, we split up and disperse into the lodge. There are plenty of rooms in which to hide. Sam, open up the windows and doors at our request. Perhaps some of us might be able to wriggle out and escape into the back."

  "I will assist you the best I can."

  "Thanks my artificial friend. It was nice to know you."

  We position ourselves before the great doors and wait.

  Time passes painfully slowly. Finally, the first hard thud hits the door, shaking the foundation of the building and shattering our confidence. The door holds tight. More hits follow and there's no sign of damage. I begin to hope that the door's stronger than Sam predicted. However, at the tenth thud, a slight dent appears, with the doorframe creaking in protest. Theo groans quietly in disappointment. At the twentieth impact, it's quite clear that we'll be fighting soon. We all lower our weapons in anticipation.

  At the twenty-ninth knock, the doors fall forward in a cloud of dust and debris. We squint at the dark opening, waiting for the first grub to appear. Nothing happens.

  "Oh Amy," Thresh calls from outside in a friendly, sing-song lilt. "It wasn't very nice of you to kill my messenger. She was my only sister, you know."

  Gorian looks at me and mouths, "What?"

  "Amy, come out and join me and your beautiful daughter. Do this and your friends can go free. This is my last offer. Otherwise, I'm sending my children in to get you. I can't guarantee you won't get hurt."

  I glance at Theo who gives me the strangest look of longing, fear, and happiness. He shakes his head no. I yell, "Thresh, I'm going to kill you."

  "Amy. Have it your way."

  The doorway swells with human bodies dripping with brown ooze. We begin firing and the bodies pile up, plugging the doorway and stopping the animated dead ones behind them. Bets yells, "Thresh, you’re done plugged up. You didn't think that through, did you honey?"

  Thresh laughs, "Hello Bets. There's room for you too. Come on out."

  With a sickening crunch, a shower of arms, legs, heads, and torsos bursts into the entrance hall with a spray of brown fluid as a small grub forces its way into the gap. Its enormous teeth gnash at us as we unload gleaming plasma into its snout. It slowly advances.

  I glance at Gorian, who looks terrible. She says, "Not now."

  "The baby?" I shout.

  She's in her own world, oblivious to me. She may be riddled with pain but she pushes through it, concentrating on killing the writhing creature in the entryway.

  "Run and hide Gorian," I yell.

  She looks at me uncertainly, winces, and then backs away, continuing to fire. I turn to look at the monster, glance back to my side, and find that Gorian's vanished. With one less defender, the grub advances more quickly and we back off.

  "I think it may be time to scatter," Theo yells.

  We fire one more time and then retreat into the warm darkness that has been our home for months. I don't look back but from the sound, the grub and its friends have broken through and are tearing the interior of the lodge to pieces. I run through the dark corridor where I kissed Theo. I should be thinking about how to save my life. Rather, I feel a poignant regret that I didn't follow through, telling him how I really felt about him. I’m about to die and lose everything- my daughter to that fiend and the man I love to caution and loyalty.

  I turn a corner and stop to rest, my chest heaving. A couple of shots ring out in one of the other wings. I hope that my friends are faring well, although I know that's doubtful. An image of poor Gorian on the floor in the throes of labor being torn to pieces by a grub is too much for me to handle. I lose my dinner on the floor. As I wipe my mouth, something scurries toward me. It's a live ground squirrel and somehow I know that I must follow it. It leads me into a small closet that I'd never noticed before. On the back wall behind a pile of rubbish is a door leading to a stairway. I take it down into a cramped cellar attached to a dimly lit tunnel.

  The squirrel and I proceed through the passageway into a large room. Gorian’s sitting there panting. Iggy stands next to small box, not unlike Troll's brain. "I'm so glad you found us. The squirrel brought us here. We thought it was you possessing another animal," Iggy exclaims. "From the look of surprise on your face, the squirrel is not your idea. Welcome to Sam's central processing unit."

  “Hi Amy,” Sam says.

  I examine the squirrel closely, detecting a wisp of intelligence in its eyes. Fromer's staring back at me. The squirrel scampers back up the stairs and is gone.

  We tap into Sam's surveillance system. The lodge is filled with creatures both dead and alive looking for us. We've seen no sign of Theo and Bets and hope that they’re hiding safely, like us. Thresh is angry, throwing furniture and cursing. Jonah sits at the kitchen table enjoying a mug of our delicious ale. He looks serenely happy. Thresh orders the grubs outside to search the perimeter and prevent us from escaping, although all the windows and doors are still shuttered.

  “Sam, do you know where Theo and Bets are?” I ask.

  “I allowed them to exit through one of the back service entrances and then resealed the door. They have gone into the woods and are past my detection.” Relief surges through me –they have a chance.

  Iggy hops up and down, producing an odd wheeze that must be a nauron cheer. Gorian groans. I gently touch her taught belly – false labor pains.

  “Gorian, breathe calmly and the pain will subside. The stress set you into false labor. You’ll be fine soon. No baby yet.”

  “Well, Amy, I don’t feel fine.” She grunts.

  I lean back on the cool wall. “Well, we’re safe for now. But, at some point, we’re going to have to emerge for water and food. They’ll wait us out.”

  Gorian pants. “What do you think are the chances Bets and Theo will return with help?”

  “From where?” I ask. “We’re on the side of a mountain.”

  “Excuse me,” Sam interrupts. “You may want to see this.”

  The grubs circle the building while thunder rumbles.

  Iggy tilts his head. "Isn't it a bit early in spring for a rain storm?"

  Sam zooms his screen at the eastern perimeter. The buck's back and not alone. Hundreds of woodland creatures, deer, caribou, elk, black bears, and magpies burst through the treeline. The grubs turn, seemingly startled. As the animals rush forward, ribbons of rain fall from the sky, transforming the snow on the ground to mush. The grubs, once weightless on the snow, are now mired in the muck. As the rain beats on the creatures, they begin to melt, ooze dripping from their backs. They shrink helplessly. The woodland animals pass the brown hulks and trample the few soldiers still standing their ground. Sam shifts the image to the front door, which is now a gaping hole. The animals rush in and we hear Thresh and Jonah yelling. They run out of the lodge into the melting snow, hacking fruitlessly with their blades at the rearing animals. They jump on the horses and ride away. It's a shame that Silius and Phineus did not respond magically to whatever spell has been cast on the woodland creatures, throwing Thresh and Jonah and trampling them to death. I try to reach out to my beloved horses, but they can’t hear me.

  The rain lessens and Gorian seems better. Sam announces, "Four humans and one large humanoid are approaching from the east." We look at his screen and I gasp. Theo, Bets, Wenn, and father are walking through the mud to the lodge. Fromer follows behind them.

  Iggy mutters, "Fromer?"

  "You've met him then?" I ask.

  Gorian says, "What? Do you know him? Nevermind. He was our security officer on the plane
t C9. He passed out of our universe through the portal there - we think- and became a superhero of sorts." She pauses thoughtfully. "That sounds really weird. Regardless, I'd never have expected to see him here."

  "I did. Let's head up and greet them. You also might like to meet my father and husband."

  Gorian struggles to her feet. "Holy cow."

  Chapter 58 - Unification

  "Is there any ale left?" Wenn's arm is wrapped around Theo's neck. They're quite tittered.

  "No, my boy, we've finished it."

  "Dammit."

  Bets sips the last of the honey wine, looking relieved. I'm unsure whether she's happy to have defeated Thresh or that Wenn's come back to me, making Theo unattainable. Perhaps a little of both.

  I'm in shock. We're all dealing with the aftermath of the attack differently. Instead of drinking, Gorian's sleeping soundly and Iggy's trying to repair Sam's damaged systems. Fromer's sent the wild animals back to their business in the forest and lumbers in the frozen mud piling bodies onto a huge fire. Father helps him. For me, the alcohol's a tempting path, but I'm wondering why we're letting Thresh and Jonah go.

  After contemplating the acrid, black soot billowing from the carnal pyre, I decide to act, my face burning. Wenn and Theo are lolling about, while Bets looks on in amusement.

  I pour the ale on Wenn’s head. "Wenn, after all this time, you decide to drink yourself into a stupor rather than pursue the bitch that stole your daughter and killed our kin? Look at the three of you- pitiful. The least you could do is to help father and Fromer’ cleanse this place."

  Wenn's dripping and suddenly sober, a hardness I've never seen on him scored across his clenched jawline. He grabs a cloth and wipes his face. "What the hell is wrong with you woman? Take a moment to think. If you had an inkling of what Ansam and I went through for the sake of you girls - all of you - you'd think more about jumping down my yapper. We'll pursue at dawn, although our pace will be slow. We can only hope that Thresh's horses are slowed by the conditions as well. We have no horses left. They perished in the mountains."