by Nate Johnson
Her face drained of all color as she realized just how right he was.
“We need to get the others and get out of here before Grundal is forced to turn us over. Because, believe me, he will. I would, in his situation.”
Amanda swallowed hard and then nodded her agreement. Nick sighed and began to run for their house. The street was empty, with the Eundai either up on the wall or hiding in their homes. An eerie quiet had settled over the city. Gone were the normal sounds of people living normal lives. Now, it was just a sickening silence that made Nick’s skin crawl.
When they reached the house, Nick crashed into the room and slid to a quick stop.
The place was empty. Not a sign of the scientists.
“Damn,” he muttered under his breath.
“Where did they go?” Amanda asked coming up behind him.
“Knowing Doctor Simpson, where do you think?” he said as he began to pace back and forth.
“Do you think she went to meet the Scraggs?”
Nick frowned at her as if asking why she was wondering about such an obvious question.
Continuing to pace, he tried to work it out. Should he get Amanda out of there? Maybe through the North Gate and into the woods. It was the closest to the forest. Or did he try to rescue the other scientists? Somehow stop them from making a stupid mistake.
What was his mission? What was right? He knew what his gut told him. Get Amanda free and clear then come back for the others.
He continued to pace back and forth. The minutes were ticking away, he realized, but there was no real solution. If he tried to sneak Amanda out, they would probably be discovered. What then?
Or should he find a place to hide her here in the city? Wait it out and hope they weren’t discovered.
“What are you thinking?” Amanda asked, obviously unable to wait any longer.
“I’m trying to figure out if I can get you into the forest or not.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “No way am I leaving without the others.”
“Listen, Amanda,” Nick said as he stopped pacing and turned to address her directly. Staring into her eyes, fighting to make her understand just how serious this was.
“I need to get you out of here. We need to make sure the Empire learns about these Scraggs. I’ll take you to the North Gate, get you into the forest and then come back for the others.”
She stared back at him and slowly shook her head. “No,” she said, “And that is final. Don’t even think about it. We all go or none of us.”
Nick sighed heavily. Why was he not surprised? Things never went easy. But then he should have known. Amanda was not the type of person to abandon her friends.
He thought briefly about throwing her over his shoulder and taking her anyway. But the idea of how much she would hate him for it stopped him. His stomach clenched up with regret as soon as he made the decision not to save her against her will.
Nodding his head, he took a deep breath. “Okay then, let’s see if we can find them and all four of us get out of here somehow.”
Amanda stared at him for a moment, obviously looking for any deception on his part. Seeing that he was serious, she nodded her agreement and turned for the door.
Damn, he thought to himself. This was going to go wrong, he just knew it.
The street directly outside their house was just as quiet as before. But, as they made their way towards the plaza. A crowd was beginning to form.
Nick wondered if these Eundai were just more curious than those still hiding in their homes, or braver.
He thought back to their original entry into the city and how the people had gathered to silently stare at them. Watching and waiting to see what would happen next. Was something similar going on here?
As they made their way deeper into the city, Nick held out a hand to stop Amanda, pulling her behind the corner of a building.
“We need to get closer,” she whispered.
“I know,” he said, “Give it a minute to let the place fill up. It will make it easier to blend in.”
She laughed and looked up at him with a crinkle in the corner of her eyes that pulled at his heart. “You blend in? That will be the day. You stand out like a Valerian bear at a tea party.”
He frowned as he tried to work out if that was a good thing or not.
Seeing his obvious confusion, she reached up and gently touched his cheek. “Thank you,” she said with a soft smile.
“For what?” he asked.
“For that kiss in the field. For fixing our engines. For rescuing us after the sabotage, for everything. But most of all. For you being you.”
His heart turned over as he stared back down at her wanting to get lost in her eyes. But a commotion from the gathering crowd pulled him away.
Damn, he thought. Would he ever get a chance to tell this woman the things he wanted to say?
Gritting his teeth, he took her hand and said, “Come on, I’ve got an idea how we can get close enough to see what is going on.”
He hunched over as he snuck around the corner of the building and made his way to the plaza. When they reached the edge, he pulled her down a side street and cupped his hands into a stirrup then nodded towards the roof of the building.
Amanda understood immediately and placed a steadying hand on his shoulder and her foot into his grip. He lifted her up and onto the edge of the roof like he was lifting a butterfly off a flower.
She wormed her way forward. Kicking her feet in midair, fighting to get a purchase.
“Put your feet together,” he whispered to her then shoved her the rest of the way up onto the roof.
Once up, she twisted and smiled back down at him.
Tossing his tool bag up onto the roof, he jumped and grabbed the edge to pull himself up. Once he’d joined her, they slowly made their way to the top and peeked over the crown down into the plaza below.
Amanda gasped next to him, and his insides turned over when he saw what she saw. They were too late.
Doctor Simpson and Professor Robinson were off to the side, a Scragg soldier standing behind them, his rifle across his chest, waiting for either one of them to make a wrong move.
Why a rifle? Nick wondered. If they were laser weapons. A long barrel wasn’t needed. Were they projectile throwers? A shudder passed through him when he realized how he was likely to get the answer. A bullet in the side of the head would answer all mysteries.
The scientist’s chins rested on their chest, and their hands were tied in front of them with some kind of thin line. Like prized hogs ready for market.
Both of them were dressed in their ship’s coveralls. They’d tried to make themselves look official to greet the new aliens. Nick could easily imagine how much the good Doctor had looked forward to taking charge.
Unfortunately, it didn’t look like it had worked out real well. Doctor Simpson’s hair was mussed up, and a dark bruise was already spreading on her left cheek. Professor Robinson’s eyes looked glazed and a long rope of red blood leaked from his temple down the side of his face.
Nick instantly got the picture of what had happened. Doctor Simpson had probably mouthed off one time too many, and the Scraggs had slapped her around. The Professor had objected, and someone had forcefully laid a rifle butt up against his head.
A burning anger began to build inside of him. Before it had all been theory and possibilities. Now it was becoming a reality. Someone had messed with his shipmates, his team. They had declared their intentions and crossed a line. Tribal loyalties built inside of him. These were humans. They should not be treated this way.
He grit his teeth, and pushed the anger back down. Now was not the time to let the beast inside of him free. Now was the time to plan, to think. He would let the anger free later when it would do the most good.
Scanning the plaza, Nick searched for a way to get them out of there and hopefully exact some revenge along the way.
Grundal, his wife Everest, and Gryopic stood in front of the Headman’s adviso
rs. Guards with sheathed swords ringed the square. Standing between the Scraggs and the rest of the Eundai.
Nick grunted with disappointment. He’d have to take out five Scraggs, four of them armed with rifles. And two dozen sword wielding Eundai guards. All with nothing more than a pipe wrench.
It wasn’t going to happen.
Swallowing the bile that was rising in his throat. Nick turned over to stare up at the sky. How was he going to get them out of there? he wondered. Save them, and still get Amanda to safety.
Frantically he tried to come up with some kind of miracle but nothing made sense.
“Look,” Amanda said, pointing into the plaza.
Nick rolled back over and stared down into the crowd.
A gap had formed, and two Eundai guards were leading a long line of children into the empty space in front of the stone throne room.
“What the hell,” Nick muttered.
“You don’t think ...” Amanda said with a hitch in her voice.
“Yes, I do,” he answered. “They are bringing them in so the Scraggs can pick the ones they want.”
“Damn,” Amanda said.
Both of them silently watched the drama unfold below them.
The children, looking like they ranged in age from eight to twelve, stood silently waiting. Their heads bowed. Resigned to their fate.
Mothers cried, and fathers scowled. Grundal’s fist clenched and unclenched at his side. Everst draped a hand over Gyropic’s shoulder and pulled him in tight.
The Scragg leader stepped away from his escort and started making his way down the line of children. His eyes traveling over them from head to foot. At the fifth child, a young boy, he grabbed the child’s chin and lifted it up to look into his face.
The young Eundai stared back, emotionless.
“We have to do something,” Amanda said as a large tear began to slide down her cheek.
“I am open to ideas,” Nick said without taking his eyes off the tragedy below him.
The Scragg dropped the boy’s chin and moved on. A woman in the crowd let out a long moan as she collapsed onto the dirt with obvious relief.
The rat faced Scragg leader continued down the line until he stopped before a young girl.
Nick’s stomach dropped when he recognized the girl he had carried in from the fields.
She stood before the Scragg her head down. Not moving. Afraid that the slightest shift might seal her fate.
The Scragg reached out to her shoulder and pulled her out of the line. Pushing her into the empty space.
In the crowd, her grandmother silently cried into her hands.
“No!” Nick said as he began to rise from the roof.
“You can’t,” Amanda hissed as she pulled him back down. “Not yet.”
Gritting his teeth, Nick fought within himself before falling back to the roof, Amanda was right, not yet. But this was not over.
The Scragg moved on, examining each child. Then finding what he wanted, he pulled a young boy out of line and into the center.
“No,” a male Eundai screamed from the crowd and rushed towards the Scraggs.
The soldiers didn’t hesitate. They didn’t wait for orders. The closest rat faced bastard raised his rifle to his shoulder and shot the man in the chest before he had taken three steps. A blue pulse erupted from the barrel. Leaving a two-inch smoldering hole in the Eundai.
The crowd froze. The young boy started to run to his father, but one of the soldiers grabbed him around the waist and pushed him back with the girl.
Nick clenched down on his jaw. It was taking every bit of his self-control to stop himself from rushing the Scraggs. Not yet, he kept telling himself.
The lead Scragg ignored the commotion behind him and continued to examine the children, shaking his head back and forth. Obviously disappointed with his choices.
Sighing heavily, the Scragg turned and said something to Grundal.
The Eundai Headman frowned, obviously unable to understand what he was being asked.
The Scragg shrugged his shoulders as he walked over and pulled Gryopic away from his mother.
“NO!” Grundal yelled, reaching for his son.
One of the Scragg soldiers stepped forward, pointed his rifle at the head Eundai and calmly pulled the trigger.
Grundal yelled as he was knocked back into his advisors.
The crowd of Eundai gasped. Nick could feel the mixed emotions sweeping off of them. Their Headman was down. Aliens were taking their children. Everything rested on a tipping point. Attack or run?
It was Grynd who settled the question.
The second in command looked down at his leader laying in the dirt, an open wound in his shoulder. He stepped over Grundal and approached the Scragg leader.
When he had gotten within a few feet. He calmly pulled the flare gun from under his cape and shot the Scragg leader squarely in the throat.
Now it was time, Nick thought, as he slid down the front of the roof and into the melee.
Chapter Nineteen
It is amazing what fifteen pounds of Corona steel can do to the back of a Scragg’s skull when it is swung at full force.
The thick crunch of crushed bone was a welcoming sound that sent a sharp thrill to Nick’s heart. One down, he thought as he stood over the fallen soldier and searched for his next target, his tool bag bumping against his leg.
The crowd of Eundai had erupted when Grynd shot the Scragg leader. Most running. Some grabbing their children from the line and pulling them away.
Others, the Eundai guards mostly, charged the Scraggs.
The alien soldiers were well-disciplined. Something the Imperial Navy was going to need to know. They stood their ground, firing into the crowd of onrushing guards.
Nick scanned the area. Grynd was down, lying next to the fallen Scragg leader, his lifeless eyes staring off into nothing, a small puff of smoke rising from his back.
Grundal was down, but alive. Everst kneeled next to him, holding a cloth to his shoulder.
Eundai were screaming, Scraggs were firing, and Nick’s gut was yelling at him to get out of there. Grabbing the soldier’s rifle, he quickly examined it. A rifle was a rifle. You pointed the long end at your target and pulled the trigger. The only question he had was whether the weapon was keyed to the soldier or not.
Kneeling, he aimed at a Scragg on the far side of the plaza and pulled the trigger. The rifle burped, and a blue light flashed off the soldier’s armor. The laser bounced up into the sky harmlessly.
At least the thing works, Nick thought as the soldier searched for his attacker. Nick adjusted his aim and fired again. This time catching the soldier square between the eyes. The Scragg fell like a bag of potatoes.
Nick smiled to himself. Revenge was sweeter than a woman’s kiss. Shifting, he sought out another victim. Another Scragg soldier was running towards the distant East Gate. Pushing Eundai out of its way when they got too close. Firing his rifle into them when he could.
Nick lined up the shot, just like his father had taught him years ago, took a breath, let out half of it, and squeezed the trigger.
The blue beam cut off the top half of the Scraggs head. Leaving him to fall forward and tumble end over end down the East Road.
One more, Nick though as he shifted around. Searching.
But he needn’t have bothered. The Eundai guards had forced their way through the final soldier’s defenses and had him on the ground with a dozen sword wounds bleeding into the dirt.
An Eundai guard. The one Nick had fought in the throne room, pushed his compatriots out of the way and brought his sword down with a two-handed blow. Severing the Scraggs head from his body and ending the fight.
Nick sighed and slumped to sit on the ground. It had happened so fast. Only a second ago, he had been on the roof and now five Scraggs, and a dozen Eundai lay dead around him.
“Nick,” Amanda called as she wove her way through the panicking crowd of Eundai.
His insides turned over a
s he watched the Scraggs’ ship rise into the air and start to sweep in over the city.
The ship hovered for just a short second then sent a long blue streak of light into the first corner house. Nothing happened, then a long tendril of smoke began to rise as a fire erupted on the roof and traveled along wherever the blue light landed.
Flames and smoke began to billow upward as the ship slowly made its way down the line of wooden houses. Eundai cried and screamed, rushing from their homes before the light could kill them.
“Here,” Nick said to Amanda as he pulled his spacer’s tool from his bag. “Cut the others loose and meet me at the North Gate. I’ll be there in a second.”
Turning before she could object, Nick hurried over to the gathered circle of the few remaining advisors. Grundal lay at their feet, Everst holding a bloody rag to his shoulder.
Nick could tell instantly that most of the senior males had ended up like Grynd, dead in the street. The remaining advisors were lost. Frozen with inaction. Too in shock to know what to do. Too afraid that they might make the wrong decision.
On the hard ground. Grundal grimaced with pain and reached up for Nick, beckoning him to come closer. The advisors stepped aside letting him through.
“Forest,” Grundal groaned as he grabbed Nick’s wrist. “Forest,” he repeated, his eyes pleading with Nick to take care of his people.
Nick swallowed hard. It was their only choice.
“Okay,” reassuringly. He took a deep breath and tried to gather himself. It surprised him how much he had come to care for this alien. How much he had come to care for all of them. He couldn’t abandon them. Not now. Besides, Amanda would skin him alive if he even tried.
“You,” Nick said in the Eundai language, pointing to one of the advisers. “Get something to carry him with. We are taking him with us.”
The advisor hesitated for a moment as if the words were barely registering, then turned and grabbed another male. Both of them hurried off. Nick could only hope they were doing what he had asked.
“You,” he said to another advisor then flinched when an explosion erupted from the street behind him.
Turning, he saw a massive wall of yellow flame shoot up into the sky. The Scraggs had hit something explosive. Who knew?
