Space Hoppers - Dance of the Guinea Pigs

by Jayne Bartholomew

  “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”

  He ignored her and carried on taking things out of the bag. A long knife glistened sharply in the gloom.

  “You know, as much as I hate to admit it, Xander was right about one thing.”

  Sarah tried to wriggle her hands free. “What’s that?”

  “You are a complete disaster.” He still refused to make eye contact. “If you hadn’t set off that bloody explosive we’d have been long gone by now. I went up to the top of those cliffs to signal that I was ready to be picked up, but because your ship had discovered our position, thanks to you, everything had to change.” He rocked back on his heels. “Even if you had just stayed in the cave it would have been workable but when you got the Namdols involved we had to rethink arrangements.”

  “You mean this was all planned?” Her fingers closed on a sharp part of the bark and she started moving her wrists slowly in a sawing motion.

  “Oh yes. Very carefully.” Simon smiled.

  Sarah thought for a moment. “The Pirates must have known that Xander couldn’t resist researching new planets and the Pirates assisted the guinea pigs to get them on the ship. If they hadn’t disabled Engine Room One we wouldn’t have had to go down for more electricity and pick you up.”

  “That’s right.”

  “But how would they have known we would be in that area?”

  Simon smirked. “There was a little inside assistance that helped the right slug hole to open. You know, love them or loathe them you have to admire the way the Pirates worked this all out.”

  “How did you really get involved with them?”

  “The story I told you was the truth except all that happened about six years ago. The Pirates decided that I had the capacity to be something more interesting than just a punch bag and I became one of them. Please don’t give me any of that psycho-babble about falling in with your kidnappers because I’ve had fun since I’ve been with them.” His smile widened and for an instant looked shark-like. “A lot of fun. There was even the possibility of promotion and trust me, I went as far up the ladder as possible. Be thankful that it was me that picked you up, the others aren’t quite so gentle.

  “I was supposed to bring back Sornath for my masters but since he’s had his accident you’re the next best thing. Believe it or not I was truly only interested in you for your mind and that little mind-reading thing I hear you’ve got going on. Of course the rest of you will be a bit redundant but that’s not really my problem.”

  “You won’t get away with this, Simon, people like you always get what’s coming to them!”

  “That’s such an old clichéd line and it’s hard to see how that works right now, isn’t it? There’s you, trussed up like a rather attractive turkey and here’s me, eating one. Do you think that’s irony or would that count as poetic?”

  Sarah felt the bark go through the last thread of the rope as her hands worked free. She let out an involuntary gasp of relief as she felt the life return to them.

  “What was that?”

  She held her hands tightly behind her back, waiting for her chance. “Nothing.”

  “I definitely heard you make a noise.”

  “The rope’s too tight; it’s cutting into my wrists. I think they’re bleeding.”

  Simon frowned. “Well, stop wriggling then.”

  “But they hurt!”

  “Fine, I’ll loosen them slightly. But only because I don’t want you whingeing for the next couple of hours.” He got up, reaching down for his knife and moved over to where Sarah was standing.

  As Simon drew closer Sarah brought her right fist up in a punch and caught him on the jaw. Her arm was numb, though, from having been in one position for so long and he was unbalanced more from surprise than force.

  She threw another punch with her left, which caught him on his shoulder and she swung her right hand over to follow it. Forgetting her feet were bound She leaned into the next one and over-balanced. She gave a small cry as she fell forward into Simon.

  Seeing her collapsing into him, he automatically raised his hands.

  There was a crystal sharp moment as Sarah took a deep, shuddering breath and looked down. Simon followed her gaze and, as if seeing his hands for the first time, backed away slowly.

  She remained standing, knees bent slightly, holding her hands around the knife hilt protruding from her stomach before raising bloody fingers to him as if in question. Sarah sank to her knees, returning her hands to the wound, her mouth open, drawing in quick, shallow breaths.

  “Shit!” Simon crouched down next to her and tried to see how badly she was hurt. The silver knife had gone in all the way.

  With a jagged breath Sarah collapsed sideways and lay trembling, staring up at the stars, breathing quickly, hands clutching at her stomach.

  Simon went to open her jacket but realised that would mean disturbing the knife. The material was already soaked with blood. He put his hand to his forehead as he tried to think before returning to his pack by the fire. Bringing out a T-shirt, he bundled it up into a makeshift bandage and went back to put pressure over the entry wound.

  “This is going to hurt like hell but there’s nothing else I can do right now.” He moved slightly so the camp fire would give off more light onto her body. “When we get picked up they can patch you up. They’re going to be here in the next few minutes but for now I’m going to have to pull the knife out to put pressure on the wound and try to stop the bleeding. Do you understand?” He looked at her face and took one of her gloves off to feel her pulse. “Sarah?”

  “So… dark.”

  “Sarah don’t you bloody die on me, do you hear me? All you have to do is hold on for a few more minutes, that’s all.”

  “The darkness… it’s crushing me.”

  He let go of her wrist and tried peering up to see if he could see a bus arriving, but the sky was empty, save for the bright stars. “Where the hell are they?” He ran his hand through his hair again. “Just a few more minutes,” he repeated, lowering his eyes towards her, “then we’ll be… oh crap.”

  The stars shone down but Sarah’s lifeless eyes no longer saw them.

  Monty woke up. The door opened and the Doberman padded silently out of the pod towards the Landing bay. His eyes were alert, his fur gleamed and the muscles on his back were rigid.

  After a quick search the crew had found Simon, Sarah and a bus missing. The unspoken rule was that you never left crew behind. You looked after your own and this basic principle was so ingrained that it was never questioned.

  Lingor, Martyn and Garet led by Xander made their way to the Landing bay

  Garth was waiting for them.

  “Stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me…”

  The little man was wearing an orange robe with a weapons pack on his back that was held on by a strap diagonally across his chest. He had painted green camouflage on his face.

  Xander stopped, concerned. “Garth, I really appreciate the effort it must have taken you to get ready today but are you sure you’ve been cleared by Med-crew to join us?”

  “Stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me…”

  Garth smiled “Is it not written that the pumpkin must have few horseshoes?”

  “Is that the same as a yes?”

  “Many toothbrushes have gherkins but only the striped ones can roller-blade.”

  “Glad to hear it, climb in.” Xander paused. “Garet?”

  “Stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me…”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Oh, you’ve found your glasses! Well done. Garet, I want you to stay very close to Garth, understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me stop me…”

  �
�Can you hear something?” Xander asked Brelt.

  The team paused to concentrate on trying to identify the noise that appeared to be getting closer.

  Lingor tilted his head. “It sounds like…”

  Derek came running into the loading bay at full speed waving the serving android’s arm as a club and looking around for potential enemies. He stood, vibrating and wild-eyed in the middle of the room. Seeing that there were no threats to pulverise, he very gradually lowered his arm and started to breathe slower.

  “Ah good, I see the cadka is finally wearing off. How do you feel?” Xander walked up to him.

  “Nnnnot ttttttoo bbbbbad thathathank you, sssssiiiiirrrrr.”

  “Excellent. I’ve just scrambled the fighter planes and as soon as you’re completely recovered I want you to be part of it.”

  “I’m rrready nnow, sir.”

  Booker turned to Garet. “You know that stuff really does wear off quickly, doesn’t it? By the time he gets his plane ready there won’t be any sign of it in his system at all.”

  “So there’s still a bit in his bloodstream then?” Brelt walked up to Derek and stood so close to him that he could see every one of her eyelashes as she looked up. He noticed how surprisingly close and accessible her lips were and as he leaned forward he also noticed something else in the corner of his eye. Sweeping her up with his right hand he swung her around 180 degrees before throwing her on the floor and falling on top of her, shielding her body.

  A jet of flame suddenly shot out from one of the walls and streamed over Derek’s fire-proof flight suit before being sucked back again.

  Booker threw down his wrench in anger. “FOR THE LAST BLOODY TIME, MAX, PUT THE SODDING PLUG IN FIRST!”

  As the smell of roast pork flooded the room Xander moved over to the bus.

  “Right. Lingor, Garet, Martyn and Garth, you come with me. Booker, you take the matches away from Max. Brelt, stay on board and contact us if the Pirate ships so much as move an inch. Derek, everything is set except that the central control has been disabled. Either someone does it manually or you’re flying blind. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “There’s actually someone in engineering who used to work in a control tower. He might be able to help on that one, sir.”

  One of the junior crew members ran in from the Control room. “Sir, sir!”

  “Yes?”

  “We’ve just picked up that a bus has passed through the planet’s atmosphere and headed in the direction of the Pirate ship.”

  “Has the Pirate ship moved at all?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Right, back to your post and the second, and I mean the second, that anything so much as suggests movement I want to hear about it. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Come on then,” Xander said to his crew, “let’s see what’s so exciting down there.”

  Twelve

  Monty sat stiff-backed and silent for the bus ride down to the planet. Occasionally Garet or Xander would stroke him and try and get some reaction, but there was none.

  When the sensors indicated it was clear to leave the bus, and the green light had flashed up, Monty stepped off the bus. The dog halted, sniffing the air, while the crew looked on.

  Monty walked slowly over to where Simon had lit the campfire earlier and Sarah’s inert body. He whined softly and gently put his paw on her arm in a prodding motion. Her eyes didn’t register and she didn’t move so he put his cold nose on her cheek and nudged her head.

  The rest of the crew came over. Xander knelt down next to her and tried to take a pulse before seeing the knife handle still in her stomach. He passed his fingers over her eyes and closed them.

  “Simon didn’t even cover her. He didn’t even have the decency to do that.” Xander reached into a pocket in his uniform, pulled out a small knife and cut the rope binding her legs.

  They huddled around her body.

  “We’d better get her back at least.” He went to pick her up.

  A change came over Monty and he started to emit a low growl. This was not a growl of warning. Xander, his arms still under her looked up at him.

  “It’s OK, boy, we’re going to look after her.”

  “Um, do you want us to leash him, sir?”

  “No, Martyn, I think he’s gone through enough. We’ll give him some time to get used to the idea.” Xander started to edge backwards. Monty moved between Xander and Sarah and looked towards the forest.

  “This shouldn’t have happened to her.” Garet was crying. “She didn’t sign up for this when she agreed to be a Visitor.”

  “She wasn’t even a Visitor, you picked up the wrong person. I found out a couple of days ago that it had been a mistake.”

  “There was no mistake. Her name was definitely on the list.”

  “Garet, you eat your glasses, you have trouble with left and right and you drink to forget your sobriety. Let’s leave it, shall we?”

  “No, straight up, it was her…”

  “I said leave it.” Xander was having trouble deciding what to do. He had seen death before and it was always emotional but he’d always been in control. He was starting to feel that control slip slowly away. “Right, Monty,” he said more gruffly than he meant to, “that’s long enough, we can’t stay here all night in the dark. We’ve got to be getting back now.”

  Monty turned to face Sarah and lifted up his head in a howl.

  Martyn was wringing his hands together. “Do you think that, um, maybe a small stun wouldn’t be completely uncalled for in this situation?”

  The big dog was howling continuously. A curious, high-pitched cry that made them uncomfortable with its pain.

  “Garth, go back to the bus and tell Lingor to get ready to leave. Martyn and Garet, I want you to fetch a stretcher so we can take her body back.”

  As the three made their way over the hill Xander kneeled down and brushed hair gently away from Sarah’s face.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to let you down.” He bent his head and closed his eyes. “You didn’t ask to get involved in this and all you wanted to do was belong.”

  Above them, the lunar eclipse had ended and the area began to fill with a calm moonlight.

  Faint rustling sounds made Xander look into the trees. Monty became silent.

  A small thumbnail-sized point of light slowly floated towards Xander. As it came closer he could make out delicate wings, reflecting the pale glow from the form’s body as if it was made from glass. Xander was transfixed by its beauty as it hung, briefly, in the air in front of him before floating over to Sarah and landing gently on her cheek. Xander moved forward to brush it off but as he leaned over another firefly shimmered in the air, gently carried by the breeze and rested on her hand.

  Looking to his left he saw more coming in a line, creating a string of light that floated and curled in the air towards her body. Monty went to sit at her feet looking towards her head.

  In the stillness of the night the warm glow of the fireflies illuminated her skin as, one by one, they dropped down to form a blanket of light. Hundreds upon hundreds of fireflies, until Xander was forced to move backwards. And still they came.

  A circle formed above her Sarah as still more glowing bodies joined them. The circle became a moving cylinder of light streaming higher and higher and moving faster and faster.

  The circle grew wider to include Monty as part of that light, and he became swallowed from view.

  In the breezeless silence of the night, Xander watched transfixed as the cylinder of light became a silent tornado that seemed to move within itself.

  One of the fireflies broke away and once again drifted in front of Xander. It hovered briefly before returning to the sanctuary of the forest. The tornado slowed and seemed to burst outwards, scattering the little lights, leaving them to follow their companion back to the trees.

  Xander walked hesitantly up to Sarah and knelt down next to her. Monty licked her face.

  The knife had
gone.

  “Sarah, can you hear me?”

  Her eyelids flickered and she moved her hand up to her forehead. “Xander?”

  Xander leaned over her. “You’re alive?”

  She propped herself up with her elbows and squinted up at them. “Apparently. Either that or you’ve got a seriously good medium.” Monty leaned up against her and she hugged him.

  “I’m not sure now’s the time to be flippant.”

  “Would you like me to wait until later?” Sarah held out her hand and after staring at it blankly for a few moments he helped her to her feet.

  “Are you sure you should be walking?”

  “I don’t feel bad, you know, all things considered.”

  He put his arm around her waist to support her as they walked back to the bus. “I thought we’d lost you!”

  She smiled up at him. “Oh no, it doesn’t work like that. Someone once told me that nothing is ever lost if it is kept in the heart.” Monty knocked into her and she absently stroked his ear. “I didn’t understand what they meant at first but I think I do now.”

  “We need to talk about what just happened.”

  “No, we don’t.” She saw he was about to say something and leaned forward to touch his arm gently. “Not just yet anyway. There’s going to be a war and people aren’t going to listen because in times like these they think that action is the only solution. Trust me. Please?”

  The delicate scent of jasmine drifted past, captured by the wind and Xander watched the last firefly let itself be carried away by it, cushioned by the warm current.

  He reached down and brushed some hair from her eyes. “One day you’re going to have to explain to me what just happened back there.”

  “One day. That’s a promise.”

  His hand moved from her face and slowly slid down her back, pulling her closer to him. She smiled, raising her arms to encircle his neck and closed her eyes as he kissed her.

  Garet and Martyn came running over the hill and stopped in their tracks as they saw the two entwined.

  Xander reluctantly pulled away. “I pronounced you dead, what exactly do you expect me to say to them?”