Cavalry

by Thorby Rudbek

  Gich’s eyes glistened as the vision of this moment grew glorious and bright; there was no consideration of the likelihood that this invasion by one small ship would stand little chance of succeeding – in this matter, both human and Quetibb felt compelled to make the attempt, whatever the consequences.

  “The construction and equipping of our first vessel is progressing well.” Quetod extended her forepaws, pads up, claws sheathed, in respectful sympathy, imagining how it would have been if Gich had not sabotaged the Drives… and the Narlav ship had not already been in such poor condition, or if, despite – or perhaps because of – all these disadvantages, the Narlav leader had never landed at all, and instead had gone back once the discovery had been made and brought many other Warrnam, instead of arrogantly trying to take the planet with just one ship. How long would it have taken them to destroy our Solar Focus Devices? How long, then, until they had killed us all? “You were correct about the strength of the outer skin. This Hybralloy is almost as strong as our own Quodt, though it does not absorb and distribute solar power as Quodt does. Our engineers have figured out how to join them together. I want you to see that.” She realised, as soon as she had expressed this wish, that it would be wise to clarify and reassure. “We can view the construction via our video link, so that you do not need to attempt another trip to the quaque-an[17] via the quifin[18].”

  “Thank you.” This came across as a breathy whisper, but a frail hand pounded on the soft seating in feeble frustration, resolve clear in this ineffective but psychologically forceful gesture. “I will get stronger!”

  The flexible panelling on the other, more vertical wall surface started to glow as the image was transmitted to it. Soon Gich and Quetod were watching many Quetibb workers clambering over, under and through the framework of the new vessel. Above, the tough fabric sunshade blocked out the heat of the super-sun of the twin Quelood worlds, but let in enough light to see easily. Though they could not feel it, they both knew that cool air was being constantly pumped beneath this semi-insulating barrier, letting the skilled construction workers function in comparative comfort.

  Sections of the ship were dark, indicating the use of Hybralloy salvaged from the huge Warrnam, and other parts were silvery, indicating Quodt, the Quetibb alloy, was being used to supplement the structure and to provide a means of powering the local components which the designers had decided to incorporate into their unique hybrid craft. Behind the half-completed vessel, the huge black wall that was the wreckage of the Warrnam made a functional barrier and sun-blocking covering attachment surface. Several openings in the once smooth outer wall could be seen, though the space within was in shadow.

  Gich observed that the two still-functional Star Drives were now in position, though they were not yet attached to the framework, and the ex-slave found the sound of an irregular heartbeat pounding even more loudly than usual, almost blocking out other sounds, presenting a significant distraction from optimum concentration. Such an exciting design! And how did they move those?

  The ‘Shaatak’ was correct: the ship, termed Quequanat, constructed by the furry inhabitants of the twin planets, was dwarfed by the spheres to be mounted on each side of the slender ‘fuselage’. Other than these two very visible additions, its construction was simply a larger version of the Quequan, the ship used with such devastating effect against the massive Warrnam a few quidolque[19] earlier. Instead of constructing a needle shape a mere fifty feet in length, this vessel would be over fifty metres long, once completed, and had a maximum external diameter of nearly four metres, making the interior large enough for three decks in the areas exclusively for Quetibb, and, according to plan, allowing for a two deck section – one level for the human VIP and the other for the Narlav prisoner. Gich was so gratified that Quedon, the leader and pilot of the exploratory flight, had allocated the upper level as a human-only space – or at least, one into which the other ‘passenger’ would never be allowed to go. I never want to see that Narlav again! At least, I never want him to see me, or ever discover that I survived… The fact that Fludrad had been less harsh with the human repair-foursome than others who had ‘controlled’ the tech-savvy team did not make Gich the slightest bit sympathetic to him. He would kill me without hesitation, if it suited him. His ‘gallantry’ was just an indication that he was smart enough to see that Gradhan the Engineer was getting less work from us by torturing us daily. A smarter Narlav is a more dangerous one!

  The Quetibb had become quite adept at subterfuge, having decided, once the human had been found, to not inform the Narlav of the fact – though this was something that they had never had reason to attempt… before. Perhaps it was because of the long period during which the Narlav was kept unconscious that this plan came to be articulated; it was then that they had discovered the slave-master relationship and this had quite literally raised their hackles.

  We are now certain of our friendship with the human, Gich. Because of that feeble creature, we have been able to anticipate Star Drive problems deliberately introduced by the squat alien, and now he thinks we must be able to read his mind! Quetod showed her teeth as the unknowingly ironic recollection both amused her and brought her hackles up slightly. Perhaps one day he will try to kill us – and I will have to end his tortured life!

  Chapter Five

  If Shaatak were to roar – Narlav witticism

  “Ah, you are just in time. Come with me!”

  Batamon and Esten had barely entered the Planetary Controller’s office when Larima got up and hurried out; she fairly jumped to her feet after her sudden exhortation and rushed off towards her private – almost secret – rear exit. Soon they were stepping into a gleaming cylindrical, capsule-like vessel, the mobile portion of a transportation system hidden deeper inside the hill. Shimmering in a series of inter-related transfers, they found themselves transported over an indeterminate but clearly significant distance. Moments later, they stepped out into another gleaming passageway and from there onto a high hilltop with a magnificent view of the plain below.

  “See that, over there?” Batamon spoke out loud as a courtesy to Larima – he was holding Esten’s hand, as he usually did now they were so focused on each other… and the increasingly desirable concept of togetherness.

  Esten nodded, looking at the distant bumps in the topography that indicated entrances to many underground structures.

  “That’s Hetwan Schept.”

  Funny, isn’t it, that I’ve never been here… Esten recalled the rivalry between this university, acknowledged by many to be the premier knowledge institute on Fepnine, and her own Echant Schept, an applied science and technology graduate school where she had studied to become a pilot, some forty (Earth) years earlier.

  “Relevant, but I haven’t brought you here to see that.” Larima gestured to them to follow her and they walked over the slight rise that was the top of the hill, immediately behind the location of the transport exit. “Look at this!” She pointed ahead, encouraging Esten to come up beside her. As they moved down the gentle convex curve, the valley on the other side came into view.

  “Wow!” Esten gasped at the beautiful shape far below. “It’s sooo …” She could find no words to describe what she saw.

  A glorious white vessel lay on a thin ribbon of metal which extended from the depths of the valley, gradually sloped to the top of a nearby rise, a couple of kilometres away. The vessel itself was almost ninety meters long and needle-shaped, except for a sculpted wing which seemed almost to ripple down the length, going from a narrow band at the front to a broader, aerodynamically significant width near the hindmost, similarly pointed end.

  Batamon looked too, putting an arm around her shoulder. He smiled as her left hand came up and covered his. You are getting pretty good at anticipating me!

  I think I’ll have to take you home to meet my folks. They should know what’s happening to me. Esten tore her eyes away from the lovely vision below and looked into his blue eyes.

  “Please! Yo
u two!” Larima chuckled. “I thought this sculpture might hold your attention for a little longer than that, but I should have guessed that the state you are both in almost makes you impervious to such a piece of art.”

  Esten blushed, and Batamon winked at her before turning back to their guide. “I’m sure I should apologise, but…”

  “But that is not necessary. Of course, it is not just a beautiful sculpture,” the Planetary Controller revealed.

  Esten tilted her head in acknowledgement of this qualifier, having suspected as much from the presence of the track-like metal ribbon.

  “You must tell me – in a couple of minutes – whether you still feel the same. This is the vessel that our once purely theoretical university has created to help touch the minds and hearts of all Fepniners. This – in a few moments – will be the inaugural flight. Controlling the ship are the two young women – twins – that came up with the idea and who are also its flight crew. On board with them are the replacement crews for two Patrol Cruisers, and … Vultemni, an art major from Hetwin Schept[20] is sitting with them in their ‘cockpit’, getting material for his studies… and probably a whole lot more than he anticipated, thrown into the bargain.”

  “Let’s rock!” Lonna flipped the ignition control beside her chair, one virtually created to resemble a 50s style light switch: a rounded metallic cover with a simple metal nob which would have been moved to provide illumination to a post-Second World War living room or kitchen. Her other hand grasped the angular yoke which rose between her silky, silver-encased legs – again, the design of this flight modifying mechanism harkened back to the bicycle-like controls which were standard in the fabulous Concorde supersonic jetliner, the principal inspiration for their super-charged sculpture. Her ‘sneakered’ feet were resting on the paired peddles which completed the retro Earth-style aircraft controls. She shook her long red flowing locks in excitement, grinning at the rather subdued figure securely belted into the central seat.

  The dark-haired Vultemni – a student of Hetwin Schept, an arts university located some two million dap[21] away from Hetwan Schept, both physically and figuratively – grinned back, nervous, now that the moment for launch had arrived. Such an exquisite work of art, from every viewpoint outside – it seemed to me to be moving, even when quiescent. What will it be like… in a moment?

  The magnificent launch rail stretched out just one thousand dap in front of the Karalk within which they were seated, diminishing gradually, by perspective, from substantial shining steel to nebulous, needle-thread narrow glints at the far end.

  Mizza, seated in the co-pilot chair on the other side of their special guest, checked various read-outs on the displays in front of her, finding the data to match previous pre-flight conditions with an exactness which made her feel deeply satisfied and confident. Her legs were sheathed in the same silvery material as her sister’s, but her deep blue top was only subtly similar in sheen – a contrast that matched her light blonde hair where it rested on her shoulders. Ah! This is the moment! I hope he gets the same ‘blast’ that we get, each time we do this!

  “All clear?” Lonna toned down her voice, recognising that the young art student could never have imagined the experience he was about to get ‘thrust’ on him and reminding herself of the importance of his report, to be submitted and publicised after their return, and the effect that it was expected it would have on many Fepniners.

  “Yes, my Captain!” Mizza tried to match her sister’s restraint, though her voice still rang across the compact and apparently anachronistic Command Centre. “All airborne craft are cleared from our flight path, and the track is magnetised.”

  “Launching in five, four, three…” Lonna, her emerald green-tinted, matching golf-style shirt which indicated – according to their own ‘rules’ – that she was the Commander of the vessel, waited for the rockets to start, her position nominally ‘in control’ being only that, for the twenty ‘gee’ programed launch sequence which would last enough seconds to get them to the outer reaches of the atmosphere was so frenetic that no human could reliably control it.

  The muffled roar of the hydrogen / oxygen combustion – a mere hint of the full sound – ‘leaked into’ the cabin, as it was programmed to do, but the real ‘kick’ here was the gee-force[22] that pinned all three back into their ultra-padded chairs, making it hard to breathe.

  The twins whooped as the walls flickered red and then white again. Outside, the ground rushed past, blurred. A moment later, and the view ahead showed only sky.

  Batamon and Esten had their hands over their ears but their eyes were on the dart-shaped vessel that had moved like lightning along the thin ribbon and then jumped or soared into the heavens. The noise, even with ears covered, was incredible – like the sound of thunder, but amplified and continuous, or perhaps the sound of a huge conflagration, as the rear edges of the wings seemed to be on fire, glorious yellow-white, almost too bright to look at. As they watched, the red ripple that had so startled them as the vessel began to move, flowed down the foreshortened form one more time. Then the now tiny dart sliced through the thin cloud layer and was gone, leaving only a slight glow showing through to indicate its continuing progress, together with the now-fading rumble.

  Larima looked at them inquiringly as the sound faded away. “What do you think?”

  “I didn’t know it was possible to generate so much noise! No one could ignore that!” Batamon tried to spot the vessel as the glow indicated it was nearing a partial gap in the cloud cover. He was rewarded with a brief view of a white speck, before the craft was hidden again.

  “And you, Esten?”

  “Yes! Fabulous! I found it incredibly exciting to watch!” She was thinking how much she would like to pilot this vessel.

  “There’s no smoke left behind.” Batamon realised the vapour trail had vanished, just like the sound. “When did we ever have a vessel propelled in such a way?”

  “The answer to that is: during the earliest years of our history on Arshonna. Then we had only rocket-propelled vessels, though none were much like this one! Lonna and Mizza were inspired by a talk that Richard gave at Hetwan Schept soon after he arrived here. Karalk is a testament to the brilliance of these twins. They had a hand in the creation or customisation of all the features which were needed to make this super-sleek transport a reality. It is equipped with an elemental separator which has been termed a Phaethid[23] – it consumes waste vegetation, would you believe? And a further, crucial new technology incorporated is a set of nth dimensional cavities which allow for huge storage capacity and provide a ‘cheat’ on mass – these cavities are so twisted from normal space that nothing in them has any apparent resistance to acceleration. Each is enclosed in spherical chambers with a diameter of two dap. There’s one for the unprocessed fuel, one for the elemental residue and two for the separated components slated for recombination. The multiple rockets on the rear edge of the wing merely recombine the oxygen with the hydrogen.”

  “Merely! You make it sound so…” Esten tried to find a word for how understated this description of the cataclysmic combustion really was.

  “Look at the hill over there.” Larima pointed across at the opposite side of the broad, gently-sloped valley.

  Her guests could see the far crest was covered with a multitude of people, their weight to the love-struck two, like their apparent size, reduced to that of antonikan.

  “My administrative group has fielded increasing numbers of enquiries since the first flight, three weeks ago. There were hundreds asking questions on that occasion, and the last test, five days ago, produced a further eighty thousand plus. This addition to our defence setup will keep us going for a few weeks, and by then the new Patrol Cruisers made possible by your expedition should be completed, which will hopefully give us a little more time.” Larima looked down at the now deserted track, her face surprisingly grim for this patently positive pronouncement.

  Esten looked confused.

  “I see.” Batam
on took her hand and continued staring into the blueness high above, partly covered with thin white clouds. “Of course, I’ll go again.”

  “Thank you. It will be the right time, now,” Larima explained, “to announce how many new Pakak have been ‘posted’ to our system since you went to Outpost Eleven – something which we have kept to ourselves, but now can reveal, as your mission was such a triumph.”

  Esten got his message and nodded in agreement. I see; we are victims of our own success. “You can go, just as long as I can go, too.”

  “Let’s maximise the view.” Mizza adjusted the transparency factor of the shell-like exoskeleton of Karalk, so that the entire ‘nose’ ahead of them was clear. “Rendezvous with Bortune in five semo.”

  Vultemni gripped his armrests and gulped at the stupendous view before him, feeling like he had been cast adrift in space.

  “Prepare for course completion manoeuvre.” Lonna was truly piloting their technological triumph now, and the gee-forces had gradually been equalised during the rise out of Fepnine’s atmosphere, making it seem that the craft had slowed, but this was not at all the case. Such a shift to a standard, stable Arshonnan gravity mode was essential, as the gee-forces in the next few seconds would have smeared both them and the replacement crews, like an excessive quantity of strawberry jam, across the interior of the Command Centre and the main cabin of their vessel.