All The Frail Futures: A Science Fiction Box Set

by J Battle

  'Please pay attention to this message.' The voice was slow, and inhumanly deep. There was a slight pause before each noun, as if the speaker was considering alternatives. 'This voice speaks the words of The Hru-argh Blessed Empire and hearing binds you to us.'

  Dan forgot about Helen as he turned towards the speakers across the room; was this some sort of joke?

  'This planet and system are now part of the Hru-argh Blessed Empire, and as such, you are all considered chattels of said Empire. Acceptance is just and required. Non acceptance results in trespass status and summary execution. All illegal planet side installations will be destroyed by the Awful Hru-argh Navy who are in position as we speak. We have commandeered all communication facilities to ensure that our new possessions are aware of the truth that stands separate and absolute.

  'All weapon capable orbital installations will also be destroyed. As this space station has no weapons, it will remain in place and has become a possession of the Hru-argh Blessed Empire. All current occupants will be well treated as class seven citizens, provided no resistance to the will of the Hru-argh is found. Futile resistance will be dealt with summarily.’

  The Teecees had already rushed for the door, though where they intended to go was not immediately clear. The skinny guy remained seated, his hands covering his face.

  Dune dashed from the room with no more than a hiss.

  Helen stared at Dan, her mouth half open.

  ‘What…?’ she whispered, one hand reaching for him.

  ‘Come on!’ He hissed as he turned towards the doors leading towards the flight docks, hoping that they could get to the passenger liner without being stopped. Once on-board, they might be able to convince the captain to leave, or perhaps just steal the ship and make a run for Earth.

  Then the display wall changed from product placement adverts to a view of Tau Ceti E from close space.

  Dan stopped mid-stride and Helen bumped in to his back.

  Against the dull brown arc of the planet he could see the sleek evil-looking shapes of dozens of space ships, moving in a silent dance towards either pole. He watched with open mouth as the ships twisted and turned; their performance envelope so far beyond that of any human craft he'd ever seen.

  Then, without any visible action from the ships, the poles lit up with explosion after explosion with flashing lights and towers of smoke; the shock and awe made even more real by the total, absolute silence.

  The performance lasted no more than two or three minutes; then it was over.

  'Thus pass all those who think to stand against the will of the Hru-argh.' The voice was beginning to get on his nerves.

  Dan watched as some of the ships began to descend, slowly towards the poles; perhaps to kill whatever few survivors there might be.

  Without a glance at Helen, he rushed from the lounge, seeking some sort of action to wipe the thoughts of all those deaths from his mind.

  He reached the dock just in time to watch the departure of the massive ship. It seemed that others had had the same idea.

  As the space between the liner and the orbital platform extended, Dan spotted a slim dark ship appear high above his position.

  He wanted to call out; give some sort of warning, but who would hear him now.

  He turned away, not wanting to bear witness to the destruction of the ship in its silent slow-mo agony.

  Chapter 10

  Tyndell watched the action from the deck of his new command ship, and he was pleased.

  So pleased that he didn't even notice that his sub-dubs were not on hand to deal with the mess building up behind him.

  The attack had been as one-sided and simple as he had hoped and expected. Now the atmospheric capable ships were gliding towards the surface of the planet to finish off the job. He couldn't foresee any difficulties there; not given the lack of resistance so far.

  He might have been a little less pleased with himself if he been privy to a discussion taking place deep within the bowels of the mighty vessel.

  'The time presents itself to us, nest-sharers, and we must act now, lest all opportunities be lost.'

  The speaker was small, even for a sub-dub, but his words were spoken with a quiet authority.

  'Danger casts a shadow on our actions, Sublan. Impetuosity foresees error and engenders reprisals.'

  The new speaker was almost the size of a full grown Hru-argh, and, as such, was held in some respect by his listeners.

  'Careful words, Jullie, ' replied Sublan, his short green snout twitching, 'but care gives us nothing new. If we seek change, we must leap on the back of good fortune and drain its unexpected beneficence.'

  There was no immediate response from Jullie, apart from the thrashing of his tail in a very Hru-argh-like manner.

  'Can we really do this? Is it truly possible?' The third speaker spoke slowly, but his words echoed the concerns of many of the listeners.

  'Preparation is the parent to success, and we are prepared.' There was much muttering at Sublan's words.

  He lifted his head and studied his audience as they gathered in a circle around him. When he felt that they were ready, he reached behind him and found what he was looking for.

  With a flourish he tossed it into the center of the circle.

  'All we need is the will to succeed. Follow me to a future where that is no longer the symbol of our existence.' He gestured towards the filthy, reeking bucket. 'Or do you wish to continue to be no more than shit-shovellers to our glorious lords?'

  The sub-dubs raised themselves up on their hind limbs as one creature, roused and ready for change. They clawed the air with their short forelimbs and hissed their assent.

  Always sensitive to the mood of the crowd, Jullie made sure that he was first among them.

  'Lead us, Sublan, to a future without subjugation and shit, where honor will wash away the taint of our history. Lead and we shall follow.'

  Sublan shook his cheek waffles in satisfaction and held his short tail rigid.

  'Helish, break out the weapons. Dulap and Herding choose your teams as instructed. Let fear be a stranger and courage share your nest. Whatever the outcome of our actions, change will be firm and absolute.'

  His words were met by hisses and action as the sub-dubs moved to obey his instructions.

  'One thing before you start, ' he stilled them with his words, 'one change we make here and now and forever. From this moment, the abomination that has been our title for so long is no more. We revert with joy and just determination to our real name, for we are Sherdling, and none shall forget. So, go Sherdlings, and forge a new future for us all.'

  Holding their weapons awkwardly, they rushed from the depths of the ship, to take on their lords and masters.

  **********

  Jashna rode the wave of light to Tau Ceti E, hoping to arrive in time to stop the destruction of the human colony.

  But he was too slow.

  Given time, the gentle push of the photons could drive him to respectable speeds, but not over such a short journey. As he flew his tortuously slow vector to his destination, he watched the brief battle, though that was hardly the right name.

  Assault; that was a more accurate term. His frustration built up as he observed the assault unfolding; within minutes, it was all over.

  He watched helplessly as the smaller crafts dived towards the planet's surface.

  There was nothing he could do to help from this distance. His simmerglow had not yet recovered from the destruction of the Hru-argh ship, and he had no other weapons at his disposal.

  By the time he reached the planet, however, he would be ready to wreak some sort of vengeance on the Hru-argh forces.

  As the distance halved, he was surprised to see the largest craft move slowly away from its smaller brethren and glide sedately to a lower orbit, circling the northern territories of the planet, leaving the rest of the force behind.

  He considered changing course to follow it, in case this move represented a new action against the defense
less planet dwellers, but it would be foolish to leave the other craft above and behind him, in perfect positions to fire their weapons at him. So he focused his attention on the closest ships and felt the resurgence of his simmerglow as it built up to full power. Soon he would be ready.

  **********

  They raced from the dock, desperate to find some way to escape from the orbital before it too was destroyed.

  As he ran, Dan accessed his implant for directions to the escape pods that must be close by; he hoped.

  They were in luck, as the closest group was just a few meters from his position.

  There were six of them, arrayed along one wall like a bank of elevators.

  He slammed his hand against the first bright red button and felt himself relax a little as the door hissed open.

  He glanced at Helen; he’d barely noticed she was there until now.

  He pushed her ahead of him and stepped inside. For a moment he held the door open as he listened, then he pressed the button to close the door. The escape pod could carry up to 30 people, but he wasn't waiting any longer.

  Despite the assurances from the alien voice over the station’s speakers, they might have only seconds before the orbital station itself was destroyed and he had no intention of wasting a single one of those seconds.

  ‘Can I…?’

  ‘Later,’ he interrupted her, ‘get yourself fastened in.’

  As the little ship's systems ramped up, he strapped himself onto an acceleration couch and tried not to think of the barrage of exotic weapons that could be heading towards him at that very minute.

  There was a distinct clunk-click as the pod disengaged from the orbital and was pushed away by the large satellite's rotation. For a second, his stomach turned as weightlessness gripped him, then the pod's engines sparked into life and he was pressed back into his acceleration couch.

  He ignored the hand that reached out to him from the next couch.

  The engines fired intermittently as the little craft maneuvered itself into the correct alignment for atmospheric entry, then, with a short final burst, they switched off, and the pod became little more than a brick, falling towards the unforgiving gravity of the world below.

  Dan closed his eyes; if he'd had a God, he would have been praying fervently; if he'd had loved ones, he would have spoken their names. But all he had was himself, and apparently Helen, so he tried to focus on his last ever race; the day before his crash. He wished that it had been a major race, full of drama and applause, but it had been a low key affair to start off the season.

  With his eyes closed and his hands gripping the armrests, he dreamed of his glory days as his craft juddered and shook in its life or death struggle with the atmosphere of the great planet.

  The landing was surprisingly peaceful as the pod bumped down onto the hard dusty soil.

  Dan released air from his lungs that he hadn't realized he was holding.

  Helen puffed out her cheeks. ‘Well that was fun, I guess,’ she said.

  Now that they were safely on the ground, what were they going to do next? The alien ships had attacked the polar settlements and they had no idea how effective that attack had been. There might be nothing left to show of mankind's first homes on this planet; just smoking holes in the ground. But they had to work on the principle that someone, something had survived. They could hardly stay where they were.

  With the decision made, he unstrapped himself and forced his upper body upright against the 1.8 G that really wanted him to stay where he was. As he sat forward on the couch, he supported himself with his arms, thankful of all those hours in the gym.

  Helen watched him move. ‘How hard is it?’

  His response was no more than a grunt.

  When he felt ready, he shuffled over to the edge of the couch and sat for a while with his legs dangling. He could feel the weight as the backs of his thighs pressed against the firm leather substrate of the couch. Before he moved again, he instructed his implant to adjust the power settings on the servo mechanisms that drove his legs to maximum, hoping that it would make a difference.

  Then he eased his feet to the floor and stood up.

  'That's not too bad,' he said as he raised his shoulders, then lifted and lowered his arms, 'I can do this.'

  He slid his left foot along the ground and, leaning forward, brought his right foot up to meet it. He paused to consider how that felt; then he repeated the operation.

  'I'm walking,' he whispered, wishing that he'd lost a little weight before he started this trip. He was a big guy and at his peak on Earth, he'd weighed close to 80 kilos. Over the years since then he'd put on a little weight so, in Earth terms, he probably weighed closer to 100 kilos now, which put him at the equivalent of over 180 kilos on this blasted planet. Getting around was going to be a problem.

  After an intrepid journey across the width of the pod, he reached the supplies cabinets. He leant against the door for a moment, already panting. He could hear Helen moving behind him.

  When he'd gathered his strength, he opened the door and started to pull out the supplies they would need. First, there was a couple of combined neck and back braces. Then two pairs of lightweight crutches; well, they would have been lightweight anywhere else.

  Next, there were the backpacks with the built-in, patented Cool-Flo air temperature modifier that would suck hot air in at one end, chill it, then blow it out through the openings in the less than stylish hats they would be wearing, covering their bodies in the cool air, maintaining a comfortable ambient temperature, or so the brochure claimed.

  Helen had joined him to help sort their supplies, her movements slow and careful.

  ‘Have you got a plan?’ she asked as he donned the face mask which would scrub elements from the air that were not compatible with human survival and attached his oxygen bottle to his belt to supplement the slightly reduced oxygen content of the local atmosphere.

  ‘I wish,’ e said, turning towards her. ‘Look, there’s just the two of us here, so let’s just forget what happened, up there.’

  ‘I want to explain. I wasn’t playing you for a mug; I’m not like that.’

  ‘Ok, that’s all behind us now. We’ve got more urgent problems, and we need to work as a team to get through this.’

  ‘OK; what’s your plan?’

  ‘Fancy a little walk?’

  They helped each other with the supports and packs and were soon ready to go. With the pack and the supports, and the rest of the gear, Dan reckoned that he'd added another 20 kilos to his weight, but at least the crutches helped.

  With still awkward movements he shuffled towards the exit and pressed the button to open the door.

  There was a slight pause, then the door hissed open and the oven hot air rushed in.

  Stepping out of the pod was a delicate operation which took quite some time to negotiate, but at last he was outside, beneath the too large sun dominating the too purple sky, with a hot wind that was currently giving any exposed skin a deep facial cleansing.

  'Welcome to TC E,' he muttered as Helen joined him, then he began to shuffle away from the pod, like some four legged creature that had never walked before.

  ‘Where are we?’ he grunted, pausing a dozen meters or so from the pod.

  ‘How would I know?’ She gave him a quizzical look.

  ‘Sorry, I’m accessing my implants. I sometimes do that; speak out loud.’

  There was good news and bad news in the answer he received from his implant. The good news was that he hadn’t landed at the unpopulated, dangerous to life equator. The bad news was that he had landed nearly 100 kilometers south of the nearest north polar settlement, in the unpopulated, dangerous to life northern territories.

  With a fair wind and steely determination they might cover 15 kilometers a day under the pressure of the relentless gravity.

  So, six or seven days then; their food would last that long; no problem. But they only had water for a couple of days, the oxygen they carried might las
t 3 days, and the batteries on their patented Cool-Flo air temperature modifier wouldn’t last even that long.

  If they just set off and tried to make the journey on their own, on foot, they were royally screwed.

  He looked back at the pod. In the glare of the sun, it looked like home. The idea of the acceleration couch was especially appealing.

  ‘Come on. We need to think about what we’re doing, before we start.’

  As they shuffled back to the pod he tried to convince himself that this retreat was tactical; to give them time to develop a more suitable plan of action. An argument most tactical retreaters use, in that little gap in time between retreat and defeat.

  Chapter 11

  Andreas considered himself a lucky man; at least on his good days. He had money, he had women, he had power; he even had the memory of his good looks. He could still hear them now, over the decades; the sighs whenever Andreas Barr in his pomp left the room, leaving a vacuum for all the females to attempt to fill with their rather more ordinary escorts.

  On his bad days, he didn’t even know his own name.

  He was on board Angel’s Kiss, with his son, when the aliens struck.

  He was drunk when he named the boy, but the child’s mother had not been in a position to protest as she was at the time making a valiant effort to survive on the surface of Titan without the usual requirement of a spacesuit.

  ‘Pretty good, don’t you think, Iron?’ he gestured with one hand.

  ‘Yeah, it’s pretty cool, man.’ Iron surely had many qualities, but he hadn’t inherited his father’s brains.

  ‘I’ve told you before; don’t call me man.’

  ‘But, I call everyone man. Even my wife. She don’t like it either.’

  ‘Where is…what’s her name now?’

  ‘Mimi is down below.’

  Andreas shuddered at the idea. He’d not set foot on solid ground for nearly 70 years and, with his loss of bone mass, enlarged heart, and even more enlarged belly, the very idea of standing on TCE made him nauseous.