All The Frail Futures: A Science Fiction Box Set

by J Battle

  He checked his rifle; he’d used over a hundred shots to kill one Succ-y-Rist. There were less than nine hundred left in this weapon, plus a total of one thousand in the two handguns. He didn’t have to be a genius at maths to know that this wasn’t going to work, that his ammunition would be depleted long before he could kill a significant number of them.

  Chapter 54

  There was a cheer from the army when the Succ-y-Rist fell. D immediately raised his hand for silence, then he ran towards the fallen alien, calling Pascal to his side. Together, they dragged the body further from the water and heaved it onto its back.

  ‘You need to cut it open, Doctor, and find out where its weak spots are, so we know how to kill it.’

  ‘How do you expect me to recognise vital organs? They are going to be completely different to anything I’ve seen before.’

  ‘You’re the only one with the expertise to have a chance. You have to try.’

  Pascal looked at the thousands of white creatures, standing like ghosts in the water.

  ‘Why don’t they attack? Get it over with. They’re giving me the creeps.’

  ‘They want us to attack them in the water; you saw how this one moved on dry land. They’d be at a disadvantage.’

  ‘I don’t have any equipment for this autopsy, everything’s in the AEC.’

  D walked up to the nearest soldiers. Almost immediately he was back with a sharp knife.

  ‘This will have to do.’

  ‘Keep an eye on them while I work, I don’t want any surprises.’

  He started at the base, where there was a large clump of gristle and bone, and began to work his way along the right side, pressing his fingers hard into the cool spongy flesh as he tried to get an idea of the bone structure, When he’d covered the whole of the body, he had a fair idea of what he was working with.

  The body was supported and protected by a network of thick bones that covered most of the body, but there were three gaps that he could detect from this primitive examination. With the sharp, though still cumbersome knife, he began to hack away at the lowest of the three potentially vulnerable spots. There were no vital organs to be seen, or tendons, or nerve clusters. It just seemed to be a wad of fatty material that didn’t have an obvious purpose.

  He tried the next, with the same result. The third place was directly behind where the head had been. Here he struck lucky as he found the lower part of the creature’s brain was now exposed, a little below a particularly heavy bridge of bone that protected the rest of the brain.

  He turned to D.

  ‘That’s your way in. Rip the head off and there is only a thick pad of fat protecting this part of the brain. A sword would slice right through it. If you strike at an angle, you drive it right into the brain.’

  D nodded at his words, then he called Helen over. Miles followed slowly behind. When they arrived, he studied Miles.

  ‘Are you okay, Jo?’ he asked the stupid question, trying not to look at her bulging forehead, half hidden by her fringe.

  ‘I’ll be fine. There’s hardly any pain, now, and I’ve got full movement.’

  He nodded and went through the plan with them.

  ‘Captain, you and I should work together, and Dr. Pascal with Jo. Let’s see how much we can hurt them before they react.’

  Helen and Miles borrowed swords from the soldiers and each team moved closer to the water, where they picked their first targets. With Helen just behind him, D splashed across the few metres of water to his chosen victim; a medium sized specimen standing a dozen metres from its nearest companion.

  With a roar, he leapt into the air and caught the small triangular head with both hands. The creature’s tentacles flailed at him, but he was able to crouch too close to the body for the thick heavy duty limbs to bend enough to reach him. With his feet braced on either side of the head, he heaved with all of his considerable might and ripped the head from its moorings, with a satisfyingly loud tearing noise. With his job done, he back-flipped over Helen’s head as she rushed in and plunged the point of her sword into the centre of the oozing mess he had left behind. Then she forced the handle down until the blade was at the correct angle and pushed it hilt deep into the alien. With a grunt she twisted the sword and then she jumped backwards out of reach, to watch the reaction to her attack.

  The Succ-y-Rist spasmed and twisted this way and that as its minor tentacles flapped helplessly at the handle of the sword sticking from its chest. The deep, mournful low moan from its vocal tentacles washed over them as it began to fall.

  Pascal and Miles had the same success with their target, and it splashed only a couple of seconds later.

  Back together on the sand, they considered their next move.

  ‘Let’s see if that makes them change their strategy. If they come out of the water, it will be easier. In the meantime, we should get Milligan to pick them off from a distance, now we know where to hit them,’ said D, already waving to him.

  Milligan had watched the proceedings, so he already knew what to do. He spent the rest of the morning picking off the nearest aliens. One shot usually got rid of the head, and then he would fire another two or three shots at the brain. This didn’t kill them, the way Helen and Jo had, as he could only target the lower edge of the brain. It did seem to do some damage to their mental capacity, leaving them blind and confused and helpless.

  Four shots each was a much better rate, he thought as he focussed on the next one.

  PI appeared suddenly beside D.

  ‘This is good, but it is not enough. You must send in teams of apes to attack each one. And you must send them now.’

  ‘We are waiting for them to come out of the water, to make it easier.’

  ‘I don’t see a significant advantage to waiting. Even if they are a little more awkward on land, they will still be just as hard to kill. Send them in now. We have to defeat this army before the next one arrives. So time is critical.’

  ‘What next army? You never mentioned another army. How can there be another army?’

  ‘This is just the first wave. That is how they work, they send wave after wave until you’ve no strength left to fight them. But I have taken action to ensure that there will be no further waves, after the first two.’

  D looked at the thousands upon thousands of white terrors spanning the width of the bay.

  ‘How many in the next wave?’

  ‘We don’t know.’

  ‘But with your knowledge of them, can you guess which way it will be? Will there be a greater or lesser number in the next wave?’

  Pi looked as if she was actually counting the individuals in the horde before them.

  ‘The number is likely to be greater; much greater.’

  D turned away disgusted and began to prepare the army to get its feet wet.

  **********

  The anger threatened to overwhelm him. There was no argument that he could come up with that would stop him from exacting vengeance on all apekind. He wanted to rip and stab and bite and claw. He wanted to taste their blood and feel the gore running down his chest. Their eternal screams would drown the echoes of the yelps of shock and agony from the murdered cats as their pitiful attempts at self-defence were pushed aside by treachery and surprise. He felt his mouth watering at the prospect.

  One thing held his paw; one small thing prevented him from descending on their city and wreaking havoc in its streets. One small ape. Aldrich had saved his life and finished the task that should have been his to complete. Without the help of Aldrich, he would be dead in a ditch, and Beschlick would be walking around, planning his next treachery.

  And now Aldrich stood between him and the city. He had no weapon and his skinny body was no barrier. Yet Lus could not pass. He could not harm the ape that had done so much for him.

  ‘You can’t blame us for what he did,’ pleaded Aldrich.

  Lus looked back at the beach, filled with apes. He looked over Aldrich’s head at the long straight road to the river.
Without a word, he turned to his left and began to walk slowly across the road. He didn’t stop then; he just kept on, picking up speed until he was running across the deadlands as fast as he could run, putting everything behind him.

  Aldrich watched him go. He remained still on the edge of the road for a long moment, then he turned and went to retrieve his bow. With the arrow he had torn from Beschlick’s chest gripped firmly in one hand, he was ready to pit himself against the white menace that threatened his land.

  Chapter 55

  Jones flew high over the volcanic island; to avoid the plumes of black smoke pouring from its gaping crater and to hide his approach from the Succ-yRist he expected to be below.

  When he cut his forward motion and began to hover, Perdus and Deylus announced that they were ready, with their wings strapped securely to their backs. He noticed that Perdus sounded a little apprehensive.

  ‘This isn’t nearly as high as The Wall,’ said Deylus, as he watched Perdus trying to keep as far from the open doorway as possible.

  ‘There’s no hot air rising here.’

  ‘Watch me; it’ll be fun.’

  Deylus was already in position at the exit. He was standing side on to the door, one extended wing exposed to the cold air, the other stretching half way across the passenger chamber. After a quick reassuring glance at Perdus, he dropped sideways through the doorway, twisting his body when both wings were free, to glide safely towards the ground far below.

  There was a long, hesitant pause before Perdus joined him.

  It was late afternoon and they hoped that their white wings would not be visible to those below, set against a background of light grey clouds. They could clearly see the massive white globe, resting on the wide sandy beach, fifty legs from the gently frothing waves.

  Slowly they spiralled lower, taking care not to approach the giant volcano as it squatted there in the centre of the island, bubbling and spitting and threatening a catastrophic explosion at any minute. They landed half a league south of the globe, hidden by a spur of rock that came very close to the sea.

  ‘You know, I think I could grow to like this, in more pleasant circumstances,’ said Perdus as he unstrapped his wings, ‘if we weren’t having to risk our lives again as soon as we land.’

  ‘There’s nothing to worry about. We’ll just run to the craft, hide this bomb thing that Jones gave us, and then we’re off. When it blows up, we come back and check they all died. We kill anyone who’s left. And that’s the easy part done with. It’s the hard part that follows that I’m worried about.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Having to spend the rest of my life with only you and Jones for company.’

  ‘I told you that wouldn’t happen.’

  ‘Yeah, the Twin Gods, of course, how could I have forgotten? They’ll rush to our rescue and put us back where we belong ‘

  ‘May they bless the sky and the land.’ Perdus held his head in a disapproving way.

  ‘Come on then, the sooner we do this, the sooner they’ll save us.’

  ‘You should have more respect, Deylus. You really should.’

  ‘I respect the food I eat and the female I ride. Nothing else. You should know that by now.’

  They loped around the spur, only getting slightly wet as a playful wave splashed them, and then they began to run north at a good pace. They hoped to reach the globe soon after nightfall to avoid being spotted by any guards there might be.

  When they came within sight of the globe, their keen eyes could tell that the beach was empty, even in the dim light. They still used every possible precaution, running low to the ground, planting their paws as carefully as they could.

  There were no guards outside the open doorway of the massive sphere, which seemed a little odd to Deylus as they crept closer. Perdus popped his head round the edge of the doorway, but there was still no-one visible in the tall inner chamber. Without pausing to think, he slipped inside. Deylus was right behind him.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he whispered, ‘we should just put the bomb underneath and leave.’

  ‘We have to make sure they are still here; that we are not too late. There is little point in blowing up an empty…thing’

  Deylus grunted. ’I suppose you’re right. It makes a nice change.’

  ‘There’s an inner door here. I suppose we open it and see what’s inside. What do you think?’

  ‘Just do it.’

  Perdus placed his paw against the middle of the door and pushed.

  ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘It’s not moving.’

  ‘Is there a handle you can turn?’

  ‘No. Look. There’s nothing.’

  Deylus moved past him and examined the door. It was smooth and white, glowing slightly, with nothing to pull or turn.

  ‘What’s that?’ He pointed at a flat oval disc on the wall to one side of the door.

  ‘I don’t know. Touch it and see what happens.’

  Deylus patted his paw against the disc and the door behind them slid shut with hardly a sound. Before either of them had a chance to react, water began to rush into the chamber. Within seconds, they found themselves swimming for their lives.

  The water stopped flowing when the chamber was three quarters full, with the cats flailing away with their paws, their heads held awkwardly out of the water.

  With the pressure equalised, the inner door opened and they were able to splash their way inside.

  The water here was much shallower and they were able to wade through on their hind paws.

  Their faces lit a by a warm, orange light, they walked along a wide corridor and came to a great round room. There they split up and moved silently away from the door, along the curved inner wall of the enormous chamber.

  The floor at the centre of the great room dropped away from the edges, creating a deep pool. In the centre of this pool, and with only the lowest part of its body submerged, was a massive grey white creature, with long rippling tentacles on either side of its inverted triangle shaped body. It turned slightly, sending a wave of water that washed over both cats.

  A long stream of harsh, guttural sounds assaulted their ears as the creature tried to communicate with them. When there was no reaction from them, it tried again. This time the sounds were high pitched trills and whistles. Only after several attempts did it come up with a language they could understand.

  ‘What are you?’ Its voice was slow and croaky, with a long pause before the last word; the carefully phrased English perfectly clear.

  Deylus had picked up quite a bit of the language, but he waved to Perdus to answer.

  ‘This is our home, and you have no right to be here.’ Perdus stretched himself as far above the water as possible to address the alien.

  ‘Why are you here? No significant effect will be gained from any action it is now possible to be taken by you or others.’

  Deylus decided that this was not the time to get into any long conversations, so he eased the bomb from his backpack, hoping that it was waterproof.

  ‘We’ll just kill it then, and be on our way,’ he said, hoping that he’d picked the right human words.

  ‘What benefit do you hope to achieve from my death?’

  ‘If you die, there will be no more of your race left to threaten us,’ Perdus replied, watching Deylus fiddle with the bomb.

  ‘I am one; my people are many. My death will be no more than food for the fish.’

  ‘We start off with one, and then we kill the next, then the next. If we keep at it long enough, you’ll all be dead,’ Deylus spoke without looking up.

  ‘And when death prevails over all of us, where does that leave you? In the hands of the H’mlinquart. You will merely be giving it victory. You can never be free whilst you are under the sway of its mind control capabilities.’

  ‘What is this H’mlinquart?’ asked Perdus.

  ‘I think he means the wall,’ replied Deylus.

  ‘The Wall? That can’t be right. The W
all is a gift from the Twin Gods, may they bless the sky and the land.’

  ‘The wall, as you call it, is just another alien, intent on conquering your world.’

  ’No, that cannot be.’

  ‘The fact that you cannot see this is proof itself that you are in its sway.’

  ‘It is you who are trying to influence us, to save your own life.’

  ‘No further significance pertains to my life. The sea is awash with my progeny, so you may do what you wish with me. But know that I speak the truth. Lacking my assistance, you will never be free.’

  ‘You cannot shake my faith, alien creature that you are. The Wall is a representation of the will of the Twin Gods, may they bless the sky and the land. And I am the Interpreter of Dreams, and I will lead my people along The Wall into their embrace.’

  Deylus had put the bomb to one side as he listened to the confrontation.

  He knew that Perdus was steadfast in his beliefs, and that he would never accept what the alien was telling them. But Pi’s comment about freeing their minds had been occupying his thoughts since they left Pierdlund, and the alien’s words made sense in that context.

  ‘Perdus, why don’t you check outside? We don’t want any of these beasts creeping up on us while we’re not watching. I’ll try to make sense of what he is saying.’

  Perdus tilted his head to one side; he didn’t want any more to do with this blasphemous creature.

  ‘Be careful that he does not corrupt your mind, Deylus. You know that you can’t trust him.’

  ‘You know me; I don’t believe in anything I can’t see, taste or ride.’

  Perdus left them alone.

  ‘Okay, alien. Tell me this; how do we defeat the H’mlinquart? If I believe what you say, I may spare your life.’

  Perdus was standing on the beach, his back to the great globe, when Deylus left the craft. He made no response to the sound of the globe’s exit chamber expelling water, or to his noisy landing just behind him. He was too focussed on what he could see in front of him. It had taken quite some time for his eyes to adjust to the darkness but, eventually, they began to appear, glowing faintly in the night. First one, close to the shore; then another further out. Then more became visible until the sea seemed full to the brim with the alien creatures.