Discovery_Taurian Empire

by Nate Johnson

  “What?” she asked as she searched for the meaning in his excitement.

  “Glander’s stone forge. It’s still there. So are the two anvils, and the grinding stone.”

  “Okay ...” she said with bewilderment.

  “They are going to need them. If they are going to rebuild. It’s going to take a thousand saws and a thousand axes to remake this city.”

  Nick slowly began to pick his way across the charred remains of Glander’s shop to the stone forge, he needed to make sure it was still intact.

  Each step threw up a small puff of black ash. Fine, granular dust that hung in the air for a moment before slowly falling back to the ground.

  He bent to move a large timber out of the way when a Eundai skull surprised him, looking up at him with blank holes where eyes should have been. His heart exploded with surprise as he jumped back, knocking into Amanda.

  She looked down obviously interested in what had surprised him then gasped at the skull staring up at her.

  “It must be Glander,” he said. “I haven’t seen him since we left the city. I had hoped he’d gotten out on the other side somehow.”

  Nick’s heart fell at the sight of his friend’s charred remains. Bile began to rise into his throat, and he feared he would disgrace himself by being sick.

  Swallowing hard, he forced the bile back down and finished moving the timber. Saws and axes could wait, he realized. They must take care of the dead first.

  .o0o.

  Amanda wiped the sweat from her eyes before she shifted the water bucket from one hand to the other.

  She had learned so much in the last two weeks. The sheer physical endurance needed to make it through the day being top on that list.

  Unfortunately, the Eundai burial rites were also on that list. Over a hundred and fifty Eundai had died in the attack. Each one was buried in the fields.

  A quiet ceremony, no words, but each of the living had stood silently for a moment then moved on to bury the next victim.

  Once all of the burials were completed, the Eundai had immediately begun the long task of rebuilding. For two weeks the Eundai had worked like New Terra fire ants. First removing all of the burnt debris, then clearing spaces for new buildings.

  Grundal was a master organizer. He assigned tasks, helped and pushed Eundai to do more with less. To finish quickly so they could attack the next job.

  Amanda smiled to herself. Even the two Docs had been roped into helping. Doctor Simpson served in the kitchens, preparing meals and serving exhausted workers.

  Professor Robinson worked in the forest helping to bring down trees for the carpenters.

  Amanda had seen him that very morning sitting astride a large tree trunk as it was dragged into the city. A smile a mile wide on his face as he talked to the Eundai teamster working the draft animals.

  But it was Nick who had really stepped up. He had quickly become responsible for sharpening the saws and axes needed by the Eundai. Working late into the night trying to keep ahead of the growing demand.

  A few days earlier, she had found him pounding out a new double ax head. An innovation the Eundai had not enjoyed previously.

  He’d smiled at her and shrugged his shoulders.

  “This way when one edge gets dull, they can switch to the other and keep on chopping.”

  She had only shaken her head. Withholding technological advances from the Eundai was no longer a concern. Whatever it took to get them back to where they were, was all that mattered.

  Shifting the bucket again, she smiled to herself. It was hard work, but she had never felt more alive. Never felt more needed. And at the same time, she was learning so much more than she ever would have sitting up in the Discovery.

  Now, the Eundai accepted her. When she stood in line at the well, the Eundai woman talked to her like she was one of them. Their soft smiles and easy jokes let her know that she was accepted.

  They were no longer guests, she realized.

  It was as if they thought of her as one of them. She had stood with them against the Scraggs. She worked hard to rebuild their homes. She was an honorary Eundai, and the thought pleased her to her very soul.

  “Amanda,” Doctor Simpson called

  Amanda handed the bucket to one of the washerwomen and turned to talk to the Doctor.

  The older woman was dressed in her Eundai serape. Her coveralls abandoned long ago for their impracticality.

  “We are to get the next home,” the Doctor said as she continued to cut the root on the cutting table into small cubes. “Grundal sent one of his men to inform us. It will be next to his home. We can move in tonight.”

  Amanda’s heart jumped. Inside. A real bed. A private toilet. What more could a person want?

  “Really?” she asked. “It doesn’t seem fair. Aren’t there others who need it more?”

  Doctor Simpson shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. But I do know I’m not going to turn it down. I’ve had a lifetime quota of sleeping outside. It will be nice to be able to sleep in a bed. Even if I do have to share it with you three.”

  Amanda nodded. No use fighting it. Just accept the gift. But why? she wondered. Why were they being given this honor?

  “Tell Nick,” the Doctor said, “I will inform that old scoundrel Robinson. Although, I don’t know if he will come in from the forest. The idiot is enjoying himself too much if you ask me.”

  Amanda laughed. Yes, he was, she thought.

  “I’ll go find Nick,” Amanda said as she quickly gathered some of the white paste from the pot hanging near the stove and wrapped it up in large green leaves for Nick’s lunch. If she timed it right, they could enjoy a quiet moment alone.

  Turning, she hurried down the street to the East Road. Her heart fluttered, and she almost skipped she was so happy. Life was getting back to normal.

  The happy thought was followed almost immediately by a quick sense of dread as she looked up into the sky. Even now, after two weeks she worried about the Scraggs coming back.

  The knowledge that at any moment her world could end again hung over her like a mountain ready to fall.

  Shaking her head to try and clear the negative thoughts, she turned down the East Road towards the plaza.

  As she walked, she marveled at all the activity. Male Eundai were splitting logs. Driving wedges with heavy hammers, carving off planks an inch thick and using Nick’s saws to cut them into eight feet lengths.

  Every other street, another kitchen was preparing that night’s communal meal. At the corner of the plaza, several old men and very young boys were carving utensils and bowls. Again, using knives sharpened by Nick, she thought.

  On the other corner, older females and young girls were weaving baskets. Bending straw into intricate patterns, talking, and giggling.

  I am a part of this, she thought with pride.

  Working her way to Glander’s forge as it was still called, she saw Nick standing by the grinding stone, pumping the pedal to turn the big wheel against the ax head.

  Orange sparks shot up away from the metal as he wove it back and forth across the spinning wheel, putting a sharp edge on the blade.

  He stood up, placing the completed blade with the others and retrieved another. As he turned, she caught sight of the burn marks on his chest and stomach from the forge.

  She had begged him to wear some kind of protection, but he had refused. Saying it just got in his way.

  Secretly, she thought he just liked being as close as possible to the metal he worked.

  God, he was a man for his times, she thought, perfectly designed for this moment, this now. His broad shoulders looked like they could carry the weight of the world. His arms looked like they could pound a tree stump into the ground if necessary.

  Smiling, she stood there for a moment and watched him work. Remembering the last time she had seen him in this environment. Had it only been three weeks ago? It seemed like a lifetime.

  “Nick,” she called out, grabbing his attention.


  He pulled back from the grinding wheel and smiled at her, beckoning for her to join him. A thought that would always make her insides flutter, she realized with a little sadness.

  At some point, in some future, she was going to lose this. Either the Scraggs would return and destroy them, or the Empire would rescue them, pulling them apart into different lives.

  A wave of regret washed through her as she thought of what she would lose one day.

  “What’s up gorgeous?” he said as he ran his thumb along the edge of the ax, testing it for sharpness.

  Her heart jumped at the endearment, simple things she thought. But probably all she would be allowed to have from him.

  “You know, I’ve got to give these people the ability to make good steel. These axes can’t keep an edge. They are too brittle. We are constantly sharpening them. In fact, the axes and saws spend more time on my work bench than they do making new stuff.”

  Sighing internally, this was a battle best left for another time. Instead, she told them of their new living spaces.

  He frowned for a moment and shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, surprised that he wasn’t as excited as she was.

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know if I like the idea of sharing you with the others,” he said with a slight laugh. “I was sort of liking having you to myself.”

  She felt her cheeks grow warm with a full on blush.

  His eyes twinkled. He so loved making her embarrassed, she thought as she fought to stop herself from waving her hand in front of her face to cool off. No reason to be obvious about things.

  “I brought you lunch,” she said, holding out the green leaf wrapped package of mush.

  “Thank you,” he said as he accepted the food. Their fingers briefly touched, sending an electrical spark down her spine.

  His eyes caught hers for a long moment, staring into them until she thought he might never look away again.

  “It’s probably a good thing that we are going to be sharing a room with the two Docs,” he said after a long pause.

  “Why?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off of his.

  “Because,” he said, with a deep passion burning behind his eyes.

  Her insides turned soft as she looked up at him. What might have been, she thought, a different time, a different place?

  “You know,” she said without looking away. “I am not a porcelain doll. I don’t break so easily.

  He laughed slightly. “I know you’re not a porcelain doll, believe me. I’ve seen you go through too much to ever think that.”

  “I think I could handle just about anything life could throw at me,” she said with what she hoped was a lustful twinkle in her eye. “I might even readily embrace some new opportunities. You never know what could be exciting and worth doing.”

  She watched his adam's apple gulp with the realization of what she was saying. How blatant did she have to be? Couldn’t he see that she wanted him? His eyes told her that he wanted her. What more was needed?

  Nick, smiled and said, “You know, I was thinking of going back out to our lean-to tonight. One last night in the forest. Maybe you’d want to ...”

  Her heart jumped into overdrive as her insides churned up a mile a minute.

  “The new home will be there tomorrow,” she said with a coy smile. “A last night in the forest might be nice.”

  “An exciting opportunity,” he said with a glint in his eyes.

  Amanda sighed internally as her thoughts immediately jumped to the night ahead.

  She might have spent the day thinking about it, but once again the universe intervened to ruin her life.

  A distant thunder rolled across the city. Pulling their attention away from each other and up to the western wall.

  The thunder began to get louder and louder as a sickening feeling pulsed through her.

  Then, from nowhere, a Scragg ship slowly slipped over the city wall to come to a full stop directly above Grundal’s rebuilt home.

  “No,” Amanda whispered.

  Nick sighed heavily and pulled her into a quick hug. Instinctively placing himself between her and the ship.

  Eundai began screaming, rushing around, gathering tools and newly made implements. Mother’s searched frantically for their children. Men cursed and looked for guidance on what to do next.

  The ship hung there for a moment, menacing, reminding them of its power. Then a long beam shot down into Grundal’s home, like a whip, setting it afire almost instantly.

  Amanda gasped. Would it ever end? she wondered.

  Once Grundal’s house was fully engulfed, the ship calmly shifted over and began to destroy a large pile of split wood.

  At least three homes worth, Amanda thought. Those might have been used for their home, she realized.

  The two of them stood there, frozen in place as they tried to fathom why this was happening again.

  Nick finally shifted, pulling himself back to the present reality and started to lead her to the North Gate.

  “We’ve got to get to the forest again,” he said sadly.

  She nodded, then watched as the Scraggs’ ship suddenly stood on its tail and shot up into the sky.

  Why now? she wondered. Why had they come back? And why were they leaving? Was it because there was so little left to destroy? Was this to be the new normal? Rebuild, only to have it destroyed again.

  Almost immediately, another ship followed the first. Racing over the western wall by only a dozen feet. This ship, smaller, with swept back wings, made up of mirror reflecting armor followed the first ship and began to climb after it.

  “What do they want?” she asked him. “Why won’t they leave us alone?

  Nick’s smile was larger than a crocodile's grin. “Watch,” he said.

  “Watch what?” she asked. “If I never see another Scraggs’ ship it will be too soon.”

  “That’s not a Scraggs ship,” he said pointing to the second ship “That’s an Imperial Fighter.”

  “No,” she exclaimed. Was it true, were they being rescued?

  As she watched, a long blue beam shot out from the Scraggs’ ship, striking the Fighter on the leading edge of it port wing. The beam harmlessly bounced off the mirror finish.

  Nick chuckled. “Big mistake.”

  Almost immediately, A small yellow explosion erupted from the underbelly of the Fighter. Within a micro-moment, the Scragg's vessel disintegrated in midair. A distant thump of an explosion reaching them a second later.

  “What ...” Amanda mumbled, unable to believe what she had just seen.

  “Not much can stand up to a rail gun,” he said as they both watched parts of the Scraggs’ ship flutter down to the fields just beyond the destroyed village outside the walls.

  Amanda felt her world wobble as she fought to hold off the shock that threatened to overwhelm her.

  Rescued, a Scraggs ship destroyed, safety, and all she could think about was that this probably meant their night alone in the forest wouldn’t happen.

  The Imperial Fighter tipped over on its wing and dived back down towards the city, leveling out at the last minute and then doing a quick barrel roll.

  “Cocky bastard,” Nick said with an admiring smile.

  “Does this mean we are rescued?” Amanda asked. “It’s over?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so,” Nick said with a deep frown. “Time to rejoin the human race and all of its problems.”

  Amanda glanced up at him and saw the deep disappointment in his eyes. You would think the man would be glad to be rid of them. To no longer be responsible for their safety. But he wasn’t, she realized. He was genuinely upset about all of this coming to an end.

  “Come on,” Nick said sharply, as he began to walk towards the East Gate. “Time I went and rejoined the Imperial Navy.”

  Amanda’s heart fell. So close, and yet so far.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Nick reached the East Gate and halted as his heart raced. The P
od was to the east. His people would approach from this direction. Right?

  This was it, things were never going to be the same again. Back to fixing engines in deep space. Only now, he knew he would always feel a sense of loneliness that couldn’t be fixed.

  Glancing over at Amanda, she gave him a quick smile of encouragement. She feels it too, he realized. This change, this return to normal.

  It was what they had wanted. Desperately hoped for. But now that it was here, he wasn’t so sure.

  Sighing, he took her hand in his and stared off at the far horizon. It might be ending, but he had now, he thought. Enjoy this last moment with her. Enjoy her pleasure at being rescued. Reunited with the human race.

  As they stood there waiting, Grundal approached, followed by his few remaining advisors.

  “Your people?” the Eundai leader asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Nick smiled with a sense of pride, “Yes,” he answered.

  Grundal nodded, his eyes staring off into the distance as he obviously tried to work out all of the ramifications.

  The three of them didn’t have long to wait.

  From the far edge of the world, four small shapes began to approach. Growing in size, until four Imperial Fighters stormed overhead in perfect formation. Their thunderous rumble shaking the ground.

  “They are trying to impress you,” Nick said in an aside to Grundal.

  The Headman smiled weakly. “It wouldn’t take much. Already, they have destroyed a Scragg ship. What could be more impressive?”

  Nick laughed at the Headman’s reply. Then his gut tightened up into a hard ball of pure worry as a square shaped shuttle approached from the east.

  Gritting his teeth, he waited as the shuttle turned to present its beam to the city gate. The words ‘Endurance One’ on its aft quarter confirmed his thoughts.

  They had come back for him. As he knew they would. There had never really been any doubt in the back of his mind. Just a wish for more time.

  The shuttle settled to the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust and ash. It had landed just beyond the ruined village. Not far from where the Scragg ship had landed weeks before.

  Nick wondered what was going through Grundal’s mind. More aliens interfering in his world, probably. Why couldn’t they all just go away and leave him and his people alone?