Cavalry

by Thorby Rudbek

  I can detect human contact, Beckie assured him, even if it’s more than five miles away, easily… But there’s nothing. Nothing at all.

  Maybe they made it to Abilene. Richard tried to put out an optimistic thought for her.

  Over this ice? Beckie’s mental grimace at this unrealistic thought shot forth, making him feel moderately mortified for making it.

  Sorry. Richard checked her face, noting the seriousness there that made her look far older than her actual years. I wish you didn’t have to face this, but you have made such a difference. Remember the story about the starfish being thrown back into the sea? He watched as she nodded, seemingly afraid to transmit her response more clearly. Richard sighed inaudibly and moved the Narlav weapon to the right. He repeated the process on the right edge and then cut a few horizontal lines across the ice between his vertical cuts. He hammered on the ice with his right hand, keeping the rifle under his left arm, but the thick mass seemed as solid as before. “Good grief!” Get one of those soldiers to kick the door from the inside, will you, Beckie?

  “Everyone! Stand back!” Beckie shouted as she slid herself a few feet away from the scene of inaction, having passed the message on almost instantaneously.

  The sound of muffled thumps was heard, then Beckie giggled again.

  Judy, watching her closely – still evaluating the conundrum that this youth presented – caught her attention. “Are we going to be able to get in?” She swung her arms around, glad her Medic-produced jacket was water-proof, but wishing it was ice-proof, too.

  “Of course! He could just chop a great big hole in the train, easily enough!” She recalled the power of the little laser that had dispatched her mother’s murderers with such ease, when wielded by her mental mentor and lovely liberator, Kirrina. “I think he wants to get in without wrecking it.” She looked at Richard, and he nodded. “I laughed because the soldier inside just remembered that the door opens inwards!”

  A louder thump was followed by another, but this one was accompanied by a spectacular cracking sound. The ice wall shattered a moment later, huge chunks falling onto the glacier-like ground ice layer with further sharp retorts and the tinkling of smaller pieces and… one spectacularly large fragment creating a whitish crater and skittering away over the shiny surface.

  “Sergeant Rivers at your service, SIR!” A broad-shouldered body dressed in army camouflage gear stood in the doorway, one dark hand holding tight to a grip on the train whilst he saluted the young Fletcher, all the while wondering about the strange weapon balanced in this welcome visitor’s gloved hand.

  “I’m Richard Fletcher. We-”

  “I’ve heard about you! Judy, Latt!” Ruth’s curly hair showed behind the soldier as she came close to the exit, wrapped in blankets, interrupting with excitement. “I’m glad you two are here – oh, you must be Beckie.” She spotted the young girl sitting on the ice. “This is all so crazy, but I’m so happy to know we can leave!”

  “Don’t you like skating?” Judy stretched out her arms and twirled around once, the sound of cracking ice startling the relieved, weather-beleaguered survivor. “Come to think of it, I think it’s losing its appeal to me, too!”

  ***

  After they had been rescued from their icy prison – quite literally ‘broken out’ – from the train that had become, according to Ruth’s whimsical viewpoint, the longest RV[31] in American history or, more prosaically, the biggest and emptiest cold storage transporter, Richard proposed taking the fortunate two Hardys to New Leeds in Stork with Judy and Latt. Brad and Beckie were tasked with bringing the three soldiers with them in Seagull.

  The incredible difficulty of movement on the ground at the train made both Isaac and his rescuers quite sure that no security could be more effective than the ice that coated most of Texas - without their Aircars, it was deemed highly unlikely that anyone would be able to get anywhere near the Eliminator reactor, and it seemed quite certain that there was no one alive within the five plus miles that Beckie had ‘scanned’.

  Though the two Aircars departed essentially simultaneously, Seagull would make the trip in a period ten minutes shorter than Stork’s top speed could achieve. Richard allowed himself to think more about this as the distance between the two unearthly fliers increased. I don’t want to keep bringing to her attention the magnitude of the death count – she shouldn’t have to be reminded of the destruction; she’ll enjoy the soldiers’ company… with her adopted father to guide the conversation!

  Richard updated the Hardys during the trip back on what had happened to the novice crew of Scout Craft Seven after they had escaped from the almost deadly but well-intended best efforts of the American military. When he told them about Paranak, there was a fair bit of confusion, and he wished that he could have given them the knowledge in the comprehensive manner his wife invariably and very effectively used. One day, Beckie will be able to do this, he thought, knowing that the talented girl was out of range. Kirrina says she can’t train her until she gets more constant in her character. We’re already expecting her to act like an adult – but this mind merging is way too dangerous to mess with. He remembered how relieved he was that Beckie had not laid waste Baynes’ invading force when she was raging about her adopted mother’s demise – something that a mind of great power, such as hers could easily do when under such an emotional overload.

  “You’d like the Fepniners!” He explained the basics of the GAF plan to save the inhabitants of Frontier Post Nine and the remaining humans on New Rhaal, using ships much more powerful than Citadel, and how they were now preparing to defend Earth against the Narlav force on the Moon – something that would have to be done before that original mission could be rescheduled.

  “So there’s a lot more Narlavs ‘out there’?” Ruth breathed, clearly still worrying about the one she would soon meet, let alone multi-millions from other worlds that might combine to attack Fepnine, and from her worried perspective, then Earth.

  “Fortunately for us, they are very territorial, and the ones who devised the Mecuba attack didn’t tell any others about Earth, wanting to keep the ‘blue marble’ for themselves,” Richard assured them. At least, that’s what Latt told us earlier was most likely to be how they would have handled it. He contemplated the beautiful vision that Earth was from space, thinking how that characteristic blue could eventually become unbroken white, if the seas froze over.

  Latt agreed, helping to calm the fear that threatened to plunge the gentle Ruth into a state of panic. “Rhaal – that’s New Rhaal, really – is so polluted the Controllers must get away soon. They won’t risk anything stopping their attack on Earth.”

  “We almost killed Brad’s wife in the mission to capture their secret base.” Judy explained about the abortive attack NUIT had instigated in New Leeds and how Karen had showed Baynes who was really ‘boss’.

  Richard chuckled at this, having heard from Leroy how much this young woman had once idolised the chief of NUIT.

  “I thought I knew about cold, but the attack took the Canadian base to new lows.” Latt told them, very briefly, about his experiences in Cold Lake. “Some local contractors became convinced that their only chance of survival was to take over the only place with generators that still functioned – the base. They took over the armory before the Commander even realised they were a risk. Remember that French-Canadian jerk?”

  Ruth nodded, grimacing at the recollection.

  “He made me wish I’d been trained in unarmed combat!” Isaac responded wryly. “What did he get up to?”

  “He ended up being a brilliant and brave tactical leader. He kept the remains of the force there going until Richard and Karen came up, like the cavalry.” Jusstinalss looked down at his knees. “He died a few hours before the Aircars arrived.”

  Judy hugged him as Ruth reached forwards from the rear bench and squeezed his shoulder.

  “We got several Hercules transport planes going and the next day we transported everyone out that we could find.
” He looked back at Isaac, then Ruth. “The remains of the anarchists were left holding the base – however many were still alive – with a single functioning generator, thousands of gallons of aviation fuel… and an estimated twenty hours of diesel.”

  “Yes, and the northern refugees are mostly in Newport now, with some supplies from New Leeds – and some of them have been helping to get conventional equipment going in the area nearby.” Brisson added. “They found a family on a farm just yesterday – still fine – that had eked out their fuel to keep warm.”

  “Latt, you look so good!” Ruth interjected, happy to find something more cheerful to notice, and glad that it concerned her personal saviour.

  “Ah yes! The equipment my ancestors designed makes health almost perfect.” His face brightened as he contemplated what would be possible, once they reached New Leeds. The only human to escape from New Rhaal wanted more than anything else to see if the Medic effect would also restore Isaac’s lost memory of the mysterious accident with the prototype Eliminator.

  Now that the Narlavs’ presence on the far side of the Moon was universally inferred, everyone who gave it any thought had concluded that the destruction of EDEM One had been caused by Narlav actions, not by any fault of equipment. Latt was also convinced that the Eliminator test and subsequent explosion in Nevada did not in any way prove that the Earthly version of the Narlav technology was unsafe, though he could not explain to his colleagues why he had reached this conclusion.

  “He’s even taller – four inches – than he was before!” Judy had twisted around on the front bench so that she could easily see the faces of the Hardys.

  Ruth smiled at this, taking personal satisfaction in the progress of the first inter-planetary romance –one that she had kick-started with a classic movie and a fuzzy sweater. Oh, look at the two of them!

  On their arrival in the ‘basement’, Richard found a free spot of bronzy flooring fairly close to Citadel and put the Aircar down. He opened the door, enjoying the pleasant temperature that greeted him, but disappointed that Kirrina was not yet returned from her mission to Baltimore.

  “Those soldiers stopped upstairs with the other military types.” Beckie dashed over, her impatience with the slower Aircar quite obvious. “Do you think Paranak could do something about the Drive in Stork?”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised!” Richard stepped out, watching the faces of the Hardys as they tried to absorb the reality of the secret cavern and the Patrol Craft which so impressively filled most of the available space.

  Latt burst out with great enthusiasm: “Ruth! ’Zac! Come on into the ship!” Together with Judy, he urged them towards the almost featureless blackness. The young Hawk girl tagged along.

  Beckie had wanted to see the ‘Medic effect’ again for some time, (having been unconscious for her own restoration) but somehow had missed most of the recent ‘Restoration’ events – mostly this was because the physical condition of the semi-frozen subjects had required immediate, emergency action. This time Richard did not stop to consider the implications, happy that both husband and wife could be ‘Restored’ together, but just hurried to keep up with the excited and bubbly Judy as she dashed ahead with Latt. She attached herself like a magnet to her fiancé and they led the Hardy couple into Citadel as if it were their own home.

  Judy said ‘Restore!’ moments after their entry into the Moss Room, whilst the Hardys were overawed by the glorious stars overhead, and Richard observed the now-familiar transformation: Isaac seemed to grow a little taller (in reality he just lost a slight stoop that only became noticeable by its absence) and Ruth, who had been fairly health-conscious, though not as slim as she would have preferred, developed in the same few seconds the kind of physique that Penny-Lee (the former cheerleader) still cheerfully and innocently flaunted, just as she had since she had first joined her school team, four years earlier.

  “Well, do you recall now what happened before the Eliminator blew?” Latt asked breathlessly, moments after the transformation was complete.

  Isaac was still hugging his wife, and had to be asked twice before he even realised he was being questioned. His star-filled eyes refocused on his extra-terrestrial friend with difficulty, and he found that the delight with which he was filled made him incapable of preventing a bemused grin from spreading over his face, even as the question finally registered. Ruth transferred herself to a less distracting position, under his arm at his side, once she caught up with the situation.

  “No, Latt, I can’t recall it now… This is all so new, so – what is this place? Perhaps when I have a chance to really think…”

  Latt was so disappointed to hear that the event was still a blank and found the old despair unexpectedly resurfacing on the sea of his emotions. Judy took him away to give the couple a chance to regroup and Richard was happy to follow, taking Beckie with him to allow Isaac and Ruth time to savour the Moss Room and make peace with the changes they had just been through, both physically, emotionally and due to the devastating effects of the Narlav attack, somehow perceptible, though essentially invisible, all around them on the way back from Texas to Rhode Island.

  Beckie went away from the scene looking more introspective than Richard could remember her being for a long time. It was some hours later that he discovered that his wife’s young protégé had considered the missing memory problem with a depth sufficient to find a more effective solution, and had taken the matter into her own hands, or, more accurately, her own mind. The impetuous Miss Hawk had performed some surreptitious delving into the memories of the Professor as soon as he had ‘surfaced’ from the interior of Citadel, and had managed to unlock the hidden truth concerning the massive explosion.

  By the time Kirrina returned from her search for Amber’s family, the facts of the Eliminator explosion had been disseminated throughout the GAF, NUIT and military personnel, and all knew the story of the lizard that had acted as a catalyst, losing its life – together with the lives of all other creatures within the crater footprint – and causing a small portion of the beryllium to be converted instantly into energy – with an impressive dash of very short-lived radionuclides ‘on the side’.

  Later, Latt was embarrassed to discover from Richard and Karen that no Arshonnans would ever think of operating an Eliminator without the safety cover on, and he realised that he had put his own life on the line many times over the previous few years, as he had worked on Eliminators for his Narlav Controllers and had enjoyed the pink glow that came into existence due to the proximity field exceeding the dimensions of the unclad device. Of course, the good news, from a GAF perspective, was that Narlavs, independently or in association with their slave techs, would presumably continue to take this huge risk. Latt took some pleasure in this thought. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before some of them will succeed in blowing themselves into oblivion!

  Chapter Seventeen

  Smoke and mirrors

  Kirrina brought Magic Wagon down through the heavy clouds and slowed so that the ‘invisible’ Aircar floated just below the dense layer. “There’s Baltimore.”

  Amber Davis, sitting on her far right, leaned against the Transplyous and looked down. “There’s just as much snow here.” She became puzzled. “It looks so different.”

  “I’ll take us down lower.” Mrs. Fletcher pushed down on the Navigation Sphere and the Aircar sank towards the buildings.

  “Ah! That’s our house.” Amber commented tensely as the Aircar dropped close to roof height and the perspective became more familiar.

  “We’ll land in the depression next to those upstairs windows. But I have to warn you, Amber, I can’t detect anyone inside. We’ll let Ed go in first, just to be safe.” Though I can sense some others, not too far away – or should I say, not far enough away! Her thought was that, if Amber’s family was frozen inside the unheated building, she would want to protect this teenager from the shock of that discovery, somehow. The other signs of consciousness, less than a half mile away, reminded h
er of the minds she had touched in Cold Lake AFB. Still, the presence of the electric blue, streamlined shape of the heavy duty laser pistol, sitting on the storage rack she had selected to replace the recliner that Paranak would have occupied, if he were there, made her feel secure. And of course, practical Paranak has equipped this fabulous flier with a laser system that could drill right through this house and the next one, in a second or two!

  Ed Baynes was looking out the same side as Amber – he had chosen to sit further back in the large Aircar, by the double door exit – and realised what Karen was doing. “Yeah, Eric, let’s take this cautiously.” He looked behind him at the rock-like soldier and he was relieved to see that Kirouac had understood the implication in his words and Kirrina’s.

  “Sir.” Eric picked up his M16 assault rifle, quite content to be equipped with this ‘old-fashioned’ but familiar and effective weapon. The thirty rounds in the magazine were complemented by a handful of magazines in the pockets of his military gear. It looks much like Cold Lake, except the snow looks more packed – all in all, not a good sign – what will these desperate people be capable of? What are they called? Baltimoreans?

  At the moment of contact with the snow – an impracticably imprecise instant to identify – the doors slid open and Baynes and Kirouac jumped out. Ed was holding a Beretta pistol – something with which he, too, was familiar. He found that the top of the snow was crusted with a thicker, slippery white layer. His boots broke through this and he sank in up to his knees. Blast! Good job there’s no one here; this is next to impossible to move in!

  “Hang on, Amber.” Kirrina grabbed her arm and gently restrained her. “Let them look first.” A single glance from those greyed-over eyes into the deep brown of the teenager was sufficient to transfer this imperative instruction.