Time Storm

by Philip R Benge

  “Tyler, I have never before seen the men who your surprise appearance saved us from, and I don`t think that they could have been from the village of the earthmen for they spoke a different language, and they certainly didn`t behave like the earthmen.” Appolon said to his two new friends.

  “So maybe you have some new guys on the block, Appolon.” Tyler said.

  “Maybe we should travel to the town of the earthmen and tell them of the aliens?” Masters said, but Tyler amended this idea.

  “Yes that might be for the best George, Appolon can you spare a couple of your men to guide George over to the village where the earthmen are camped….” Masters now hastily interrupted his friend.

  “But surely Tyler you will come as well?” Masters was feeling a little shocked at the idea that the two twenty first century men should part.

  “Not just yet George, first I want to find the camp from which the troopers came from, and to see just what Appolon and his people are up against. I might be able to offer a different view to that of Appolon and his warriors, Our history is filled with such people, but here on Orion, I don`t think that sort of person is very common.” Tyler said. Masters thought about this for just a moment.

  “I will come too then Tyler, for it might be advisable for us to find out just what is going on here, before revealing our presence to the authorities in the town that Appolon spoke of, for who knows what sort of bureaucrats Earth breeds in this century, we may need to offer them something before they will help us.”

  Appolon immediately stated that he too wanted to have a look at the encampment from which the troopers had come from, and would welcome any advice that his new friends could offer.

  “We can then come back here for my warriors and teach them to respect the owners of this land, we may even let them stay and work for us, if they plead with us enough.” Appolon said feeling charitable for the moment. Had he know the size of the Heliot army, he would not only have laughed at his brave statement, but also thought about moving his people away for the moment.

  For this evening though the village wanted to throw a party for Tyler and Masters, it was to thank them for saving their chief and their friend Tryon from whatever the strangers had had in store for them.

  Night had fallen, and all the villagers had gathered in the village centre. Four large Rhygons, a beast similar to the cattle of Earth only much larger, had been put aside by the villagers earlier in the week to provide the feast for the planets worldwide celebrations which were to celebrate the arrival of the earth people. However, the villagers decided that their own celebrations took precedent, especially with the growing unrest due to the many new colonists arriving on Orion. The Rhygons were being roasted in the many ovens used by the villagers, and along with the other items gathered for the feast were now ready to be eaten. All the villagers immediately sat in a circle around a large fire, Tyler and Masters of course were the guests of honour, and together with the village elders and Appolon they sat upon thick goat skin rugs. The rest of the villagers completed the circle around the fire, sitting on whatever they had brought from their homes. Talk buzzed amongst the villagers as each caught up on the latest news. Then just for a moment, when the villagers caught sight of the sumptuous plates of food being delivered by the children of the village to the guests of honour, all was quiet. Whispered gasps of appreciation rippled around the circle as the people now saw their own plates coming towards them. Then after every one was served all started to feast on the delicious meal. The local beer was served, and soon the village was again filled with loud happy voices.

  One surprise Tyler and Masters got was when they were introduced to the `brother` of Appolon. A young woman came forward to be introduced; Appolon and Tryon gasped when they saw her, for it was Caroline, the sister of Appolon, and none of the village had ever seen her looking quite so beautiful, or so like a woman before tonight. She stood proudly before Tyler and said in a confident voice.

  “Tomorrow, Tyler, man from the dream world, we will go and look at these `new guys on our block` as you call them, and we shall show them what kind of people follow Appolon, and what they can expect when they provoke them.”

  Accompanying Caroline was Morgana, the Aunt of Appolon, she was a middle aged woman with jet black hair and a slim body, and her green eyes never left the person who was George Masters. Caroline and Morgana turned together and left to join the other people of the village. Tyler turned to Appolon questioningly.

  “You never mentioned your sister Appolon?” Tyler said to Appolon who could not help smiling.

  “Until just now I could have sworn she was my brother Tyler. Never before have I seen her dressed as she was just now. Always she has dressed as one of the warriors.” Appolon explained.

  “I think Appolon that our new friend here might have something to do with her change; maybe she would like to get to know our `Legend` a little better, which is why she invited herself on to our trip tomorrow.” Tryon said, joining in the conversation.

  “If this is true my friend then I would be only too happy, both for you and Caroline, and for my parents who have tried for so long to offload her on to some unsuspecting male.” Appolon said looking very serious for a moment before first a smile appeared on his face and then he and Tryon burst out laughing.

  “Unfortunately” Tryon added, “There were no unsuspecting males left on Orion, until you came along.”

  “It might be that she was just waiting for a real man to come along my friends.” Tyler said, smiling at Appolon and Tryon.

  Appolon and Tryon laughed with Tyler and Masters and agreed that yes this also might be the answer.

  Masters then enquired as to whom the woman was who had accompanied Caroline.

  “Why that was my Aunt, she is called Morgana, and if you are interested George, then I will tell you that she is a widow. Her husband was a brave man who died rescuing a drowning man some ten years ago, until today she has never looked at another man.” Appolon answered.

  “Then it would seem that there are two women of our village who are interested in our new friends, Appolon.” Tryon said.

  “Yes Tryon, you are right, and what better choices could any of the four make." Appolon replied.

  The conversation then turned to the Earth of Tyler and Masters time.

  “I live in a city called London along with ten million other people.” Tyler said amid gasps of astonishment at how so many people could live together all in one place.

  “What Tyler says is true my friends, in total there are over sixty four million people living in Great Britain, which is the name of the country where the great city of London is set.” explained Masters. “Altogether there are seven billion people living on Earth.” After explaining the term billion to their friends he had to reassure them that what Tyler and he were saying was true.

  For the rest of the night Tyler and Masters told the Orionist`s, and by now the whole village had joined in the conversation, all about Earth, the continents upon it and the many nations that lived there. It seemed that the colonists had never told the people of Orion this much about Earth, maybe because they might worry in case a billion or so earthmen might suddenly turn up to live on Orion, impossible though it was.

  During the whole of the conversation one pair of very blue eyes kept a very bewildered watch upon Tyler. Caroline wondered why she was so interested in this stranger, he was most certainly not built like a warrior, which was the sort of man she had assumed would attract her. Nearby Tryon had been restringing his bow while he listened to the talk about Earth, and when Tyler saw him he mentioned that he was a fair archer, and with that the warriors rose and took him to a cleared space behind the houses. Here was where they practised with their bows, and here was where the entire village wanted to see him as the warrior that he had been portrayed as by Tryon.

  The bow used by the natives was exactly the same as the longbow of Earth, and Tyler had no trouble using it. Earth has a mass some fifteen per cent greater than Or
ion, so the strength of the muscles in his arms was a match for the natives of Orion, and he was able to pull the bow string back as far as Appolon or Tryon. The warriors lit the course with burning torches so that he was able to see the target plainly. The target was a log, set swinging from the bough of a tall tree that resembled an English oak. Masters gulped with consternation for he foresaw Tyler failing dismally and putting them both in a bad light, but he also saw that the die was cast and nothing could stop this exhibition of Tyler`s archery prowess. Appolon, Tryon and Caroline lined the course near to the target, and as Tyler pulled back the string he saw the anticipated failure in the eyes of Masters, and the great interest in the other`s eyes as they awaited his first shot. With his two new friends, and also a certain young woman awaiting the outcome, he had the best of reasons to fire straight. His eyes then took in the swaying log, all else disappeared as he concentrated on the shot, the arrow left the bow string, and with a swishing noise the arrow flew through the air to strike the target with a satisfying thud. The answering applause and the look on face of Masters, as he ran forward to congratulate him were nothing as to the look upon Caroline face, that of pure delight. Appolon, Tyron and Caroline joined in the clamour as the warriors ran to collect their bows and an Archery competition started.

  Hera, the wife of Tryon now came across to them to thank the two earthmen for saving the life of her man. Hera was small and petite, and George and Tyler wondered just how she managed to scare the brave Tryon, but as Tyler said, Tryon could well have been joking as he had done about Appolon`s ‘brother’.

  Normally the party would have gone on until sunrise, but tonight it was only an hour after midnight when Appolon called a halt to the celebrations. There was serious work to be done that day, done by some of the warriors of the village, and of course their guests of honour, who were tired.

  **********

  Earlier that night and far away from the celebrations in Appolon`s village, John Cassidy was finishing his dinner, he had been invited by Marcia to have dinner with her and her father so that the two men could talk to one another about their common interests, Marcia of course was the primary interest, the other surprised Robert Lambert.

  “I only became a marine Mr Lambert as there was nothing left for me to do in Canada where my family still live. The family farm is being worked by my two elder brothers, and had I stayed to help them I would have been a drain on their resources, so I enlisted in the Space Marine Corps and travelled the universe.” John Cassidy said to the father of the girl he loved in the hope that they could become friends.

  “And how soon will it be before you are posted to the other end of the universe to fight some space pirates?” Lambert asked hostilely.

  "I was hoping Mr Lambert that that day will be a long time coming; they are going to need men here on Orion as long as the scientists are here.” Cassidy replied.

  “After that attack on the complex do you really think they are going to want to stay out here on the frontier of space, no they will move to a safer place, and they will take you all along with them?” Lambert predicted, correctly as it turned out.

  “There is another way for John, father. He could settle down on Orion and take some of the load off your hands; you know that it is getting too much for you now.” Marcia said more in hope than expectation.

  “I am quite able to work my own farm Marcia.” Lambert protested, and there it was left for the moment.

  Later that evening Marcia saw Cassidy to the door and they stood on the porch for a moment and kissed good night.

  “I don`t think he likes me much, or likes the prospect of a marine for a son in law anyway.” Cassidy said feeling a little down after his conversation with Lambert and his all too likely prediction.

  “He will come around soon John, but until he does I must stay here with him, I cannot leave to follow you around the galaxy as a marine`s wife, even if the corps allowed it. He needs me more than ever; you can see that for yourself.”

  “I do my darling, it is just so galling that we cannot get married, I am sure that Colonel Bragg would arrange for an early discharge if there was the prospect of my being able to farm here with you on Orion.”

  Chapter Eleven

  June 23rd the Year 2494

  We Will Have to Investigate

  The natives of Orion had been Neolithic farmers who had also hunted game and collected wild fruit and vegetables to supplement their diet when the first colonist`s from Earth had arrived. Now one hundred years on they had been helped into the Iron Age. The colonists who were all of the Church of the Universe, had all been trained in the many crafts and trades that turned Orion from a Neolithic world into a world comprising a mixture of times. They provided all the goods that made Orion a paradise for its native population, whose ancestors never dreamed of such conveniences, such as indoor plumbing, many roomed houses and a diet that included much more protein and fat than the natives could have provided for themselves. The farm land around the village was all ploughed by metal ploughs, made here on Orion, and pulled by horses now bred on Orion; there was even the odd tractor or two.

  The natives were glad of the improvements to their lives, they were now literate, in English maybe but literate, and they would not want to return to the old life of their ancestors. Even so many thought that enough earthmen now lived here, and that the rest of their planet should be for the native Orionists, not the new comers. This was a difficult concept for a people coming from a planet of nine billion people, for there were probably only one hundred and forty thousand people on the whole of Orion. When the first Earth colonists had arrived on Orion the population must have been only about forty thousand people, but with the benefits of the improved health care provided by the colonists the native population on Orion had almost quadrupled. The planet was also ten per cent smaller than Earth but with a far greater percentage of water over land, there being only five per cent of the surface of the planet covered by land. The native population now said that they were beginning to feel crowded, a bit of an exaggeration maybe, but they feared that many more colonists would now descend upon them because of the fabulous Time Machine.

  **********

  Morning came around for Tyler and Masters, and after breakfasting they awaited for Appolon, who soon appeared along with Tryon and Caroline, now dressed as a warrior, but to the natives` surprise still looking very like a woman. There were also two other warriors who Tyler and Masters had met during the party the night before, and who were going to accompany them on their expedition, Cimon and Argos.

  “The fewer of us there are the less chance of our being spotted.” Appolon said in explanation of their small number. “We don`t want to get into a fight just yet against such heavily armed warriors as we saw yesterday, not until we know just how many of them are here on Orion.”

  Tyler had a bow given to him by Appolon across one of his shoulders, with the handle across his chest and the bow string across his back. He also had a quiver filled with arrows. In his right hand he carried a spear, given to him by Tryon, and a large knife thrust through his belt, this last item given to him by Caroline who stated that a warrior was undressed without such an item. Her five feet eight inches of body, dressed in buck skins, was similarly armed.

  Masters was unarmed at that moment and happily so it seemed, for he told them that as he wasn`t a Robin Hood, he wouldn`t bother to carry a bow, something that the villagers didn`t understand and Masters didn`t explain. Just then Morgana appeared carrying a spear.

  “This was owned by my husband and it never let him down George, take it now and keep it by you at all times to ensure you return back to our village safely.” Morgana said. Her eyes locked into those of Masters.

  “Thank you, Morgana, have no fear, no shame shall fall on it whilst it is in my keeping.” With these words the small group of friends left the village.

  **********

  Appolon had reckoned on the likeliest whereabouts of the Heliots from the direction that they had b
een taking, before Tyler and Masters took a hand in the proceedings, and it was in this direction that the party headed. They walked towards a distant wide valley that ran alongside the mountain range before it met up with another valley that broke the almost continuous range of mountains in two. Appolon`s village was on this side of the range and New Eden was on the other side, the newcomers camp must be somewhere in between.

  The sounds of the village died away behind them and then the fields of wheat gave way to scrub and finally grasslands. They trekked for five hours through the grasslands of Orion, by small herds of antelope like creatures, over up thrusts of granite and across small rivers by way of rope bridges. By this time Tyler and Masters were both very tired and Masters said so.

  “Appolon my friend I must rest, for I am not as fit as I used to be.”

  “I am sorry George; please forgive my lack of thought.” Appolon said, “Yes we will rest here and have something to eat.”

  Tyler added his thanks to that of Masters, for he too was feeling a little weary but had not wanted to broach the subject in case Caroline thought less of him, funny he thought that this should be important to him.

  “New Eden, the town of the men from Earth, lies two more days walk through a valley that breaks the mountains that you see before us into two separate ranges.” Appolon said pointing ahead to the large mountain range that was beginning to fill the sky.

  After a short rest and a bit to eat Appolon was restless, for he wanted to be on his way again, he would not normally have stopped so soon, or eaten a snack, but he knew that this was how the colonists acted when out and about.

  “If we don`t move off now we shall not get through to my favourite camp site until the moon has risen.” Appolon said to them all, after they had finished their light meal and enjoyed a short break.