All The Frail Futures: A Science Fiction Box Set

by J Battle

  ‘Is this true Clessy? And if so, why?’ Though he asked the questions, the answers were obvious. The additional enhancements must be part of Heldon's efforts to keep track of them and, if that was the case, what was the likely outcome? What was Heldon's plan?

  ‘It is the truth, but we should not discuss the reason in front of one of them. It will all become apparent anyway; very soon.’ She spoke calmly, her eyes fixed on Xlytes.

  ‘What have you done? You may have jeopardized our whole mission.’ He felt his simmerglow pushing for release and, in other circumstances, he would have just let it go. But not here; before this alien. Not when he was beginning to get an idea of what was coming.

  ‘Perhaps when you get back, if we get back, you should ask your friend Heldon for the explanation.’ He could see the beauty in her fierce expression as she glared up at him. ‘For I am no more than his tool; just as you are. If Xlytes had had a chance to finish his story, and I to start mine, then you might have a better understanding.’

  Jashna stared back at her for a wordless moment as he continued to put things together in his mind. The machinery, the girl, and Heldon.

  ‘No! No!' he spat. 'You sent back a signal to Heldon! You should have waited! This is the wrong place! Even if it was the right choice, it's the wrong place. You’ve ruined it now. There is nothing here! Can’t you see that? We can't hurt them here, in the middle of nowhere. If she realizes what has happened, she won’t do it; surely she won't send anyone after us.’ He took a step towards her.

  ‘And yet,’ the dull tone of Xlytes interrupted them, ‘they are here already; wasted and spent. Now we see the inherent treachery in machine worshippers such as you. We see, and there will be repercussions.’

  100 black crystal ships shifted into the locality of the tiny ball, sent by Heldon to take the war to the enemy, bristling with weapons and eager for prey, spinning and surging across the unrelieved blackness, hunting for something that was not there.

  As the little world began to shrink and its comfort blanket of air dissipated, Jashna grasped Clessy and pulled her to his breast. She needed no further encouragement and sank her teeth into his flesh.

  They ignored the slowly tumbling, no longer animate body of Xlytes, and waited to be picked up by one of the ships, when they’d completed their fruitless search.

  As he drifted, Jashna considered Xlytes’ last words. ‘There will be repercussions.’ It wasn’t hard to imagine what those repercussions would be.

  As the dark wall of a ship approached, hardly visible against the surrounding sea of black, he thought of the string of stars Heldon had shown to him, gone too soon to Nova. He wondered how long it would be before the first star with planets that harbored life lost its billion years struggle against its own mass.

  Chapter 36

  Earth 12000 B.C. Siberia

  The wind blowing off the steppes was unrelenting and insidious, driving the gritty snow against his thick fur. But he took little notice as he began to move away from the mound of exotic metals that was all that was left of his ship. He could feel the blood gushing from the terrible wound in his back, even as it seeped from the multitude of cuts across his broad chest.

  He had little time before even his much vaunted strength failed and he collapsed onto the rough, cold surface of the plain and became no more than strange tasting food for whatever carrion eaters this place possessed. Before that happened, he had to find a hiding place for The Egg.

  His name was Pentatargon, and there were places where that name would be cheered as a hero; there were others where he would be jeered as a demon. And now this sudden and untimely death, and who would know when he ceased to be?

  He'd stolen the Egg from the hands of The Tellion, and that was a story in itself. The ancient and forgotten technology would have earned him a fortune, and added to his legend, if he'd only been able to escape unseen. But The Tellion's forces tore after him, desperate to wrest the twin prizes of The Egg and his life from his possession. In his desperate bid to escape he'd ended up here, shot from the sky by a lucky strike from his pursuers.

  They'd be here soon enough; he had only moments to hide The Egg before they came for him. It was a perfectly natural movement to let his battered body drop to the hard ground. He placed the small silver Egg in the dirt before him and allowed himself a moment to consider the device. He could smash its brittle shell and let it do its work; he'd die only a short while sooner, and The Tellion's tools would also perish.

  That was something worth achieving, as his final act. But what about this planet? Could he destroy the biosphere of a whole planet? What sort of epitaph would that be?

  No; tempting as it was to strike back, he would not do that. He tore at the ground with his powerful claws. The ground was hard, but it was not yet in the grip of the permafrost that would envelop this region for millennia to come. After only a few moments, he had a hole that was deep enough for his purposes. Carefully, he laid The Egg in its center and began to cover it as quickly as he could. When the job was complete, he groaned to his feet and kicked dirt over the blood that had pooled whilst he worked.

  He looked around at the inhospitable landscape; no trees were likely to disturb his deadly treasure; no rivers were likely to wash it to exposure, but how long could it remain hidden?

  He turned away and made his way back to his ship. He squeezed back inside, roaring as the pain washed over him. Lying awkwardly on his side, the wreckage all around him, he waited; for The Tellion's force, or for death. He cared little which came first.

  All that mattered was that The Nano Egg was safe.

  **********

  Earth 2132 Siberia

  Mikhail Ivanovic remembered when no flowers would grow here; not even in the springtime. But climate change had brought its benefits to this region and today he was going to plant a tree. He wouldn't see it grow beyond a sapling, but his children would, and thus they would remember him. That was important to him; to be remembered.

  His life had been hard; it had taken all of his energy just to feed himself and his family. There had been no time to do something important and memorable; to stand out as the remarkable man he'd always expected to be. To be like his father, the legendary Triple I; Ivan Ivanovic Ivanov. Such a hero in what the west termed the 3rd Crimean War, though, of course, at home, it was merely a low key local border rationalization. So, today he'd plant a tree, and 50 years after his death, his grandchildren could look at the majestic tree and say, 'Grandpa did that.'

  It was enough.

  Or it would have been, if the tree had ever been planted. If Mikhail had survived; if his grandchildren had not all perished within the space of a few days.

  He dug a deep hole in the newly thawed ground and didn’t even notice as the dull edge of his spade broke through the thin skin of The Nano Egg. With a grunt, he tossed it onto the small mound of earth he’d created as he dug.

  He paused as the light caught its sharp brittle edges.

  ‘What’s this?’ he muttered as he stretched for the damaged oval.

  He was distracted by a light thud as the head of his spade fell to the ground. He held the wooded handle closer to his face, sure that his poor eyesight was deceiving him.

  ‘What the…’ The handle was dissolving as he watched, transformed to a grey sludge that dripped slowly to the ground. He dropped the shortened piece of wood and stepped back; a lifetime too late. His fingers began to tingle, then to burn. He yelped and pulled off his gloves, tossing them wildly away. He began to howl as he watched his fingers glisten and shrink, dripping dirty grey liquid to the thirsty ground.

  He began to run, but his boots had already gone, and the flesh of his feet was right behind them. He stumbled onto knees that lacked the solidity to support him and collapsed face first into the dirt.

  His last thought was to wonder what would happen to his beautiful tree. He needn’t have worried as the tree was already half turned to sludge as each of the nano particles that had been released by Th
e Egg attacked the molecules of the tree and turned them into copies of itself.

  Soon the whole plain was nothing more than a grey glistening swamp as all of its organic material was converted by the ravenous nano machines.

  The swamp spread; into the villages and towns, across forests and mountains. The particles were so light that they were carried by the wind, spreading their feeding frenzy across the whole globe.

  In a matter of only a few months, the Earth was devastated.

  No vegetation, no animal life, no humanity. Even the seas were not spared, as the nano particles drifted down to the depths, converting all the flesh and vegetation they found.

  The few hundred thousand men and women who were scattered across the solar system were all that survived of mankind’s billions.

  Earth was quarantined as none dared step on its lifeless surface, for there was no defense against the weaponised nano particles that now ruled the world.

  Chapter 37

  'Where is everyone?' Her voice sounded tired, showing the strain they all felt even after such a short time subjected to TCE's unrelenting gravity.

  'There should be a staff of 20 or so engineers and auxiliary workers.' Jimmy leaned against the smooth battleship grey wall for support.

  'Maybe they're all on lunch,' suggested Nigel.

  'Look!' Moira stepped forward with renewed energy. 'I'm having one of these.'

  Just a few meters along the dimly lit corridor was a line of three wheeled vehicles with fat rear tires and tall back supports.

  Moira sighed as she gently lowered herself onto the cushioned seat of the first vehicle. 'That's better.'

  Fortunately there were two more of the trikes, so Nigel and Jimmy were soon settled in their own vehicles.

  'Let's try the canteen,' said Jimmy as he slowly eased away from the wall.

  'How do you know which way to go?' Nigel was having a little difficulty with his starter button.

  'I'll just follow that sign.'

  With a whiny rev of his tiny engine, Nigel followed him.

  'Hey, wait for me.' Moira yelled as she bent over her controls.

  Then she realized her error. 'Oh no!’ she spat, ‘why do I have to have the one with pedals?'

  Slowly she began to pedal after them, her temper not in the slightest improved.

  She caught up with the boys at the corner of what appeared to be a loading bay. In the center of the large space was a long low multi-terrain vehicle with six large balloon tires. Its driver's door was open and there was a body lying with one hand on the step.

  'Is he...?' she whispered.

  Nigel drove across the room and stopped a couple of meters away from the blue overalled figure. He dismounted carefully and bent to the body. He didn’t need to touch him; the smell was sufficient proof of death.

  He turned to his companions. 'He's been dead for days, I think.'

  'If he's been dead that long, why hasn't anyone else found him?' She could guess the answer to her own question, but she hoped one of the others would have a more hopeful explanation.

  'We'd better find the rest.' There was a grim set to Jimmy's face as he mounted his vehicle and drove past them. Neither Moira nor Nigel protested against his decision to lead them.

  Within a few minutes they'd found them, stretched out in the dormitories, as if merely asleep. The smell was a wall that kept all but Jimmy outside.

  When he finally joined them in the corridor, his face was pale and suddenly aged.

  'They have all been murdered; strangled I think. You can see the marks on their necks and there are signs of petechial hemorrhaging; at least that's what it looks like.'

  'But, who could have killed them all? Is anyone else left alive?'

  Jimmy took her arm and led her back to her trike.

  'Let's go somewhere else. We need to think about what we're going to do.'

  'We need to call this in. There must be a local police force, or something, ' said Nigel as he closed the door on the last of the dormitories, 'let's find the com room.'

  Following the helpful signs that hung from the ceiling, they found the com room without too much trouble. They stared in silence for a moment at the wreckage, then they backed into the corridor.

  'What do we do now?' asked Nigel.

  'We leave, that's what we do. Before it gets us.' There was wildness in her eyes, as if panic was not far away.

  'Moira's right; we have to leave. We can report this when we get to the pole.' Jimmy carefully closed the door to the com room.

  'I think I can drive that all-terrain vehicle,' offered Nigel.

  'That's good to know, Nige, but I think we need something faster. It'd take weeks to get there driving.'

  'What are we going to do; fly?' Moira was beginning to recover from the shock.

  'If we’re lucky. Follow me.'

  He sped away, his engine whining as he pushed it to its limit. Nigel followed, matching him for pace.

  Moira cursed under her breath as she bent to the task of pedaling after them.

  They exited through the loading bay and rode across a couple of hundred meters of level ground to the next low dome.

  2156 worked again and they scooted through a wide doorway into a hangar. Squatting in the middle of the large space was an aircraft; grey and blunt and ugly.

  ‘There you go.’ Jimmy gestured with one hand. ‘Your ride, I think.’

  ‘Can you fly it?’ Moira tried her best not to be impressed.

  ‘Of course; it’ll all be automatic.’

  Within just a few moments they all found themselves onboard the aircraft.

  Sitting in the single seat at the apex of the curved flight deck, Jimmy checked all of the displays to ensure that they were fully fueled and read to go.

  ‘You should be aware that we have a full load,’ he muttered absently as he raised the seat to a more comfortable height.

  ‘A full load of what?’ Moira was strapping herself into her seat, a little behind and to the right of Jimmy.

  ‘Sis!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘What do they make here?’

  ‘I don’t… Oh.’

  ‘Yes, it’s a full load of anti-matter.’

  Moira felt her shoulders lifting as she wrapped her arms about herself. She knew that there was no way to detect the presence of the dangerous stuff behind her, but she was sure that she could feel a tingling up and down her back.

  ‘Can’t we just dump it?’ she suggested.

  ‘Off you go; be my guest, but I’m not going anywhere near it.’

  If she could have reached him, she would have jabbed him in the ribs, but her brother was sitting across the flight deck from her, and she wasn’t getting up.

  Moments later the main hanger door slid open and they taxied out to the basic runway. With a roar and a cloud of dust and sand they were off, leaving the anti-matter plant behind them.

  As the noise subsided a three legged creature of glowing fibrous strands stepped out into the sunlight. It watched as they disappeared from view. It had observed them earlier as they lumbered about the building, noisy and slow, and oblivious.

  It had spared them because they had not been included in its orders, and they had made no attempt to restart the heinous machines that filled the domes.

  When the sky was clear, it turned back and went inside the loading bay. Gripping the last human body by its ankles, it began to drag it along the smooth grey floor towards the nearest dormitory. This creature might be an enemy to its people and its home, but it still deserved a little dignity in death.

  ********

  Jashna watched as the atmospheric bubble floated towards him, lit by a faint yellow glow from the closest of Heldon's ships. When it was nearest enough, he gently pulled Clessy from his breast and eased her through its gossamer thin smart wall.

  She roused from her semi-slumber and stared back at him, her eyes dark and impenetrable. There was a smudge of his blood on her chin; rich and red and potent. He reached thro
ugh the wall and scooped the blood up with one calloused finger.

  Before he could withdraw, she moved with surprising speed and grabbed his finger and drew it to her mouth, lapping at the last of his blood. When she was finished, she released him and smiled as he slowly drew his hand through the wall of the bubble.

  The almost invisible ship pulled the bubble back towards its cavernous hatch as Jashna watched, strangely sad to see her go.

  He ignored the signal from the ship, inviting him to board; it seemed such a waste of time and energy.

  He wondered how long it would be before the attack came; for surely it would.

  The bubble was barely inside the hatch when it began; unseen and silent, the Andromedeans brought their unknown technology to bear on Heldon's force. Within mere seconds, the integrity of the ships failed and they collapsed black on black, in silent death. Just as the One, none of the ships had a defense against the alien weapon, and soon near space was filled with the helpless dying bodies of the ships' crews.

  Clessy was amongst them, her atmospheric bubble blown away like a soap bubble in the wind.

  This time he made no move to save her; there was little point.

  Heldon would send no more ships; of that he was sure. In the darkness, he had no way of knowing if Clessy reached out to him, if her last breath was wasted on a cry for help.

  He turned his back, though it made little difference, and wrapped his shudder wings about him.

  There was a response required from him, for he was Jashna-del and death would not come to him easily.

  He could fold himself into a tight ball and shut down all of his systems, floating through eternity; waiting for contact that would never come; for entropy to shake him by the hand.

  A memory insinuated itself into his considerations and distracted him for a moment.