Solitude's End Page 3

  At some stage, a human ship must have come to check the settlements, and burnt many of the bodies in this one. Considering he had cleared the planet three years ago, it was the only possible explanation.

  Nothing similar had taken place at the other mines where bones lay everywhere, scattered by the local wildlife and the weather. Koll had visited them first, settling on this site because of the close approximation of the mine, compound and spaceport. Located in a coastal valley cutting back into the steep mountains, this one was also more sheltered and less damaged.

  Disgusted with the situation, he climbed back into the cabin of his landing craft. Once sealed, insulated and fitted with an air filtration and cooling plant, the old office would be his new quarters. He did not intend to step foot outside his shuttle again until it was ready.

  On a ledge high on the hillside, Echo lay on her belly and watched the activity. After years of praying a ship would come, the only arrivals sat on the airfield below, and they belonged to the Tolleani.

  A roar of engines woke her some hours ago; she stepped out to the veranda in time to see the tollean spacecraft descend to the airfield. She was unfamiliar with the type, but knew they were not human.

  Grabbing her ever-ready emergency gear, she had jumped the back fence and raced through the now overgrown gardens to the creek. Careful to keep her head down, she crossed, crawled into the scrub and vanished.

  The town was no longer safe, so she would have to leave. The possibility something like this might occur had haunted her for the last three years, and she was prepared. Her father's prospecting hut, hidden away in the mountain gorges, would become her refuge. After the massacre, she had prepared the old cabin for just such an emergency, and now it would serve as home until the aliens went away again.

  Another year on.

  Field-General Bradford Molliner adjusted his eyeglasses and studied the paper. A worst-case scenario was now a distinct possibility. With supplies of Trilatenite critical, high command was now ordering him to do something to fix it.

  His jurisdiction included Corros, one of only three human planets with significant deposits of the mineral, but the settlements on that world had been wiped out four years ago. The war front now sat between here, the major sector base on Cymbel 3, and that distant world.

  He sighed, leaned across the desk and tapped the intercom.

  “Heather, can you ask Marshal Bentleigh to come in here please.” A brief acknowledgement sounded on the speaker.

  No ship had approached Corros for a long time. Soon after the initial attack on the world, an ore carrier had noticed something amiss when they discovered the orbiting navigation satellites were not functioning. The ship turned tail and ran home, sounding the alarm.

  Months later, a military scout snuck through to examine the colonies from orbit. They saw only destruction, ashes and bodies, with no traces of human life. Limited by their location behind enemy lines, they also left without landing.

  Now, Molliner realised, he would have to send another, to determine whether retaking the planet was a possibility. He had the perfect vessel for the task, a new experimental model designed for behind-the-lines missions. With the ability to sneak unseen past the battlefront, it could carry out a quick, quiet examination of the mine sites. A positive report was a precursor to a major military push to take back and protect Corros.

  His bigger problem involved whom to send. Top quality captains were hard to come by now, the exact reason why the stealth ship remained unused on the tarmac just a few hundred metres from his window. One young commander, Ben Teague, was ready for promotion, and he was Molliner's first choice, but politics was now the deciding factor.

  The son of the Viceroy, Gordon Clarke, was also overdue for his captain’s bars, and the planetary leader had made it quite clear he expected his lacklustre offspring to receive the next ship off the blocks.

  By the time Bentleigh arrived, Molliner had reached a decision; Clarke would command the mission with Teague as his second, as a precaution.

  Chapter 03

  “Thirty seconds, Captain.”

  Ben Teague took a deep breath. As the sawtooth ridge drew nearer on the monitor screens, four sets of eyes focused on the long line of jagged stone teeth and anticipated the appearance of the last of the planet's mining communities. Earlier flyovers of the other towns had detected no trace of human life: when the Tolleani invaded a world, they left no survivors! The mine workings, on the other hand, were largely undamaged, so re-establishing them would be a simple matter.

  “Continue the approach,” the ship’s captain, Gordon Clarke ordered.

  Ben's fingers waltzed over the controls as the vessel crested the rise and began a descent towards the small airstrip on the valley floor ahead. “Can't see any ships. No sign of movement.”

  “Fine. Do a sweep of the mine and the town ...”

  Without warning, the screens flickered, lights in the cabin dimmed, and from outside the hull, the whine of the engines faded as they powered down.

  “Engage emergency landing procedures. Set her down on manual. Now, please.” The captain's voice remained calm, as if events like this occurred every day.

  Turning the ship in a powerless glide over the airfield, Ben hit the landing gear switch and battled to align the vessel as best possible for what promised to be a rough and dangerous descent. The crew had no time to brace as the ship slammed onto the field with a bone-shaking thud, careening across the hard-packed surface towards the largest of the spaceport's Quonset hangars. The ear-splitting scream of steel skids on gravel rent the air, sparks streaming behind as the craft slowed and ground to a halt meters from the refuelling bowsers.

  Ben gasped and slumped back in his seat. “That was fun. What the hell happened?”

  “That's what we need to find out,” the captain said. “What's our status?”

  “Life-support and emergency backups are optimal. Internal systems are still functioning.”

  “Run a complete check, please.”

  “Some minor systems are out, but we can reset them. That's not our main problem.”

  “And that is ...?”

  Ben diverted the readouts for the primary engines to the captain's monitor. “Activating circuits in the engine pods have shut down, sir. All at the same time!”

  “Impossible! Those things are hardened against damage.”

  “Yeah ... never happened before! We can't reset them without going outside, and it'll take at least 40 minutes for one man, less if two of us go.”

  “Are the security systems functional?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Turn them on now please. Nobody goes out until we are sure this place is safe.”

  An hour later, the airstrip still appeared deserted. Dust swirling across the ground was the only movement to disturb the calm, the hollow whistle of wind blowing down from the mountains the only sound.

  “There’s nothing out there, captain,” a female voice reported from further aft in the cabin. “No disturbances and no infra-red anywhere near us.”

  “Makes no sense,” Clarke said. “If this is an attack, someone is responsible. What about the buildings?”

  “Most of them are heat insulated, so anyone inside won't show on the detectors.”

  “What do you think, Ben?”

  “Not sure. Other than introduced animals, we haven't detected any non-indigenous life here, human or tollean. Our problem might just be faulty relays. If one activator went when the failure occurred, the others might go from the overload. I mean, this is a new, unproven ship.”

  “And it's been thoroughly tested. Activator failures do not happen.”

  “No, sir! Only speculating ... sir.”

  The captain rubbed his chin. “The engines first. Someone has to go outside regardless, to reset and check the damned circuits; otherwise, we won't be leaving anytime soon. The quicker we deal with it the sooner we’ll be away; already been here too long. “

  “Sir?” Ben threw an
incredulous glance at his superior officer. Leaving the bridge unmanned was well outside standard procedure.

  “Two on the circuits, two on guard. Now!”

  It was a bad call, Ben thought. This was the captain's first ship, he knew, granted because of political pressure rather than innate ability. Molliner had told him about this man before the mission, and advised of the reason why he was placed second in command. However, a dubious order on a deserted airfield was not grounds for dissention. Ben doubted the wisdom of the decision, but kept his piece.

  I should remain inside, he thought.

  * * * * *

  “So, what have you done with my rescuers, you bastards?” Echo lay on her belly at the edge of the rocky outcrop, peered down through the early morning mist and cursed, ignoring the sweat as it beaded on her skin and trickled into all the wrong places. Of all things in this world, she hated the heat and humidity the most.

  At least it kept the monsters indoors, she thought. Good for me!

  Rolling over to relieve the irritation from a sharp rock digging into her groin, she gazed out towards the distant ocean. As usual, rain had fallen during the night. With the storm gone, the hot morning sun streamed through the clouds in long curtains, boiling away the morning mist that lay like a thin blanket over the valley.

  Still shrouded by the remnant haze, the blocky, indistinct shapes of the old, now forsaken town shimmered in the near distance. She remembered her childhood there with fondness: the wondrous life of a teenager, the days filled with hope and a firm conviction of the infallibility of her own place in life.

  No longer. Both parents died years ago, along with her brother, every inhabitant of the town, and as far as she was aware, of the other two mining towns and the air base which once protected them. She alone survived!

  Far below, a cluster of prefabricated timber and fibro buildings marked the old mine administration precinct. Next to the compound, the adjacent airfield emerged through the mist. Where once ore carriers and supply vessels landed, two deadly looking alien craft now stood instead. A pair of smaller atmospheric scout cars, intended for general surveillance, squatted nearby like giant bugs. Echo never saw the aircrews; they spent their days in the barracks, venturing outside as little as possible. The aliens hated the environment of this planet!

  A new arrival, sleek and black, sat at the front of one of the hangers. Unmistakably human in origin, and branded with the roundel of the Federation fleet, it had appeared unheralded several weeks earlier. Echo did not witness the arrival, but came more often now, hoping to spot the crew. She wondered why they landed here. Were they her rescuers?

  For years, she had prayed for an end to her involuntary solitude. From her hidden refuge in the forest, she waited, watched and listened for the telltale signs and sounds of a human ship. Other than the new one on the airstrip, none had ever come. This one was not showing much promise.

  Confident of eventual rescue, she had kept her head down and survived. Only on rare occasions did she consider she might die alone on this world, but recently the possibility had begun to loom larger in her mind.

  This outcrop was the same from which she watched the return of the aliens a year earlier after running from the town. Forced to flee into the mountains again, she visited here on a regular basis to spy on the camp.

  Movement caught her eye as a small group emerged from a building and made its way through the center of the compound. Four figures dressed in pale blue coveralls walked under armed escort.

  “Gods' halls, you're still alive!” Echo gasped. This was unexpected; perhaps there was hope yet.

  As the small assembly reached its destination, the lead guard singled out a prisoner and marched him behind the nearby buildings. Within minutes, an alarm sounded, sending more guards rushing from the barracks.

  From Echo's position, parts of the complex were out of view, but she guessed the crewmember was attempting an escape. Harsh, guttural shouts drifted up from below, followed by the signature flash of laser fire from beyond the outermost buildings, and then calm.

  After a drawn out interval, the tall figure of the monster she had long ago identified as the alien commandant, stepped from the old mine office and strolled towards the rear of the camp, reappearing minutes later in the company of two guards. Leaving them at attention on the concourse, he returned to his sanctuary. The other prisoners were gone, long since taken into one of the buildings.

  One down, Echo thought. The escapee was dead. As the base settled back to its normal, routine slumber, the remaining soldiers retreated to their quarters. Other than the two unfortunates standing for punishment in the hot morning sun, the place soon looked deserted once again.

  Echo knew better: the aliens hardly ever showed themselves, but from past observation, she knew how many they were, and where they would be at any given time.

  She often watched the Tolleani. From a distance, they appeared humanoid apart from the hands and feet, but larger, uglier! Waiting for rescue was a lonely occupation, and with no one else in her life, these creatures were the major focus for her curiosity, and a constant source of fascination.

  Apparently all male, they were not unlike humans. She wondered about them often: what their females were like, whether they had families at all, how they reproduced, what they did for amusement, or if they even understood the term.

  Careful to remain unseen, Echo wriggled back from the edge of the rocks, lifted into a crouch and crept into the undergrowth. She cursed under her breath.

  “Murdering bastards!”

  “So ... leaving again, are we?” Barbus Koll dropped the binoculars to his lap, and gazed out the grimy window of his office at the rocky outcrop on the hillside.

  The human's presence had first come to his attention from the light reflected by an ocular device similar to his own. For months, he had watched the creature come and go, believing itself to be invisible.

  The frequent appearances had proven a minor source of amusement over time, and a welcome break from the boring tedium. No doubt a survivor from the earlier cleanup operation, it must now be hiding somewhere in the mountains behind the mine.

  It posed no threat to him or his command. Worth neither catching nor killing, its apprehension would be a waste of precious resources. In the future, if his superiors ever gave him more than the handful of useless rejects he now commanded, he might find the time, perhaps.

  From previous dealings, Koll knew humans to be troublesome: when Tollean Command first began exterminating them, they hit back hard and effectively. By his standards, these animals were less than civilized, and did not warrant any kind of special consideration. He acknowledged that fact without reservation!

  Despite their technology, they were no different to any other dangerous animal: a powerful bite, but still not worth the effort. This one appeared every few days, watched the base for a while, and then departed. Other than sneaking around the town and the overgrown fields occasionally, it never did anything to concern him.

  In the last year, he had learned to loath this damned planet even more than before. The native biosphere, both alien and hostile to his race, was typical of the worlds these humans occupied. Apart from the unholy heat, every insect on this pathetic rock wanted to sting him, and every animal went into frenzy at his approach. Every plant stung, burned, or poisoned and nothing here was edible. Each scrap of food and water had to be imported. The humidity gave him an irritating rash. Koll thanked the ancestors the atmosphere was breathable, even if it did stink. At least the air in this building was conditioned.

  In the last year, he had discovered a little more about the secret research he protected. In his opinion, nothing on this base should be outside his knowledge. The three scientist treated him like hired help and told him nothing, but he kept them under close surveillance and listened in to their conversations.

  One of their projects, the one warranting exile to this world, was an explosive apparatus of some kind. The device, they claimed, would start an
atmospheric reaction, wiping all life from the surface of a planet to leave it clean and ready for the reforming crews. Atmosphere could be easily replaced, an empty world quickly transformable into a site more suitable for the Tolleani.

  Given the choice, Koll thought he would rather be as far from here as possible, and to hell with the scientists! Tired, and bored, he closed his eyes, letting his mind wander.

  If those idiot researchers ever succeed, humans would cease to be a problem. The war would be over, and he would be an over-commander. Human planets would fall in a single sweep, with this place the first he would destroy. The Empire only needed the minerals, not the wildlife, and not those annoying humans. Meantime, it was still too hot here for his liking!

  For now, he had no choice but to continue this glorified parody of a nursemaid job, well away from the front line and far too distant from the campaigns that should be providing rapid promotion and recognition. Deep in contemplation, he swivelled back towards the desk.

  A new problem had just arisen. A few weeks ago, his tame scientists used one of their little toys to capture an enemy warship. A terran ship had been detected entering orbit around the planet, and the scientists insisted they could use it to test one of their new creations. The new device was beyond his understanding, most likely something to do with electro-magnetism.

  With just enough time to set a trap, Koll got his men out of sight and moved the ships on the airfield into the hangers. Completely unaware of the Tolleani presence, the terran spacecraft lost power whilst cresting the nearby ridge, managing to make a very skilful emergency landing on the airstrip. The crew had been his prisoners since then.

  Koll sighed again. Minutes earlier, one of the prisoners had killed a guard and escaped, diving into the water-filled depression behind the compound. The sentries failed to stop the creature with small arms fire. It emerged from the pond and vanished into the forest long before they could reach it around the perimeter.