"No, we"re not ready for military action yet. We just need information. Reconnaissance. You and I can do this. Let"s hope the humans haven"t found the ship and the armoury. I feel naked without a weapon in my paw." He looked over at Zenig and then down at his own unclothed body. "Perhaps some clothes might be in order, too," he joked, barking with laughter.
Leaving the computer console active, they left the room and padded back across the Deep Sleep chamber. Zenig noted that the two Alisorti were lying lifeless in the now empty cots.
He glanced at his leader who shook his head. They"d done their job, kept them alive through the decades, but their usefulness was at an end; now they were awake he had no intention of returning to Deep Sleep again in a hurry.
At the far end of the chamber Lorvalan waved his wrist over a wall-mounted sensor and, in response, a previously almost invisible door slid open. He was pleased to see that the humans clearly hadn"t found their way to this door. In the pa.s.sageway beyond, the stench of humans was almost completely absent. The two Tyrenian warriors stepped through the hatch and the door slid closed behind them.
In the now empty Deep Sleep chamber all was silent and still. Except for a tiny movement in the third Deep Sleep cot where another of the parasite creatures was just beginning to twitch. Unlike the Alisorti that had been attached to Lorvalan and Zenig this one was a pale green colour and its twitching was totally arrhythmic. Suddenly with a snarling growl of agony the Tyrenian underneath the parasite sat up, his eyes burning with madness.
The Doctor sat in the rocking chair on the back porch and sipped at his tea, watching as Dee tended to her herb garden.
With the sun already climbing in the sky the temperature was beginning to rise. The Doctor shielded his eyes to get a better look at what Dee was doing. She was kneeling down, examining the roots of some of her herb bushes, which nestled in beds dug right up against the sloping plastic walls of the original prefab.
"A good crop?" he asked politely. The herbalist shook her head, a grim expression on her face. "Not really," she explained. The soil is too crumbly, the rain too infrequent and the local insects too hungry." She sat back on her heels.
"You don"t use pesticides?" he wondered.
Dee laughed. "I wish," she said with a sigh. " Back to Basics, Back to Basics, Doctor. Nothing that would have been out of place on an original settler"s homestead in the American West, that"s the rule." Doctor. Nothing that would have been out of place on an original settler"s homestead in the American West, that"s the rule."
The Doctor"s eyes flicked towards the plastic wall she was leaning against. "Rules are there to be broken."
Dee saw what he was looking at and nodded. "I have a sneaking suspicion Ransom was a good deal more flexible than we think these days. I don"t think any of those Gen-One ladies fancied giving birth without every medical intervention known to man."
"But these days?" the Doctor wondered.
"These days we get by with good old-fashioned hot water, towels and a few herbal teas I know of. Not that we have many births to deal with, mind." Dee looked around, a little despondently. "This place is barren in more ways than one."
Without pushing the issue, the Doctor continued his gentle questioning and Dee found herself explaining a little more about the history of the colony to her guest, who listened politely and attentively. It transpired that he had been right in his decoding of the Back to Basics Back to Basics mantra; it was an ideological position based on the idea that technology had harmed mankind rather than liberated it. And this colony had been set up to run entirely under those rules. mantra; it was an ideological position based on the idea that technology had harmed mankind rather than liberated it. And this colony had been set up to run entirely under those rules.
"But why the American West?" the Doctor had interrupted at one point.
Dee had laughed again. "Ransom had to choose a cut-off point somewhere. He didn"t want us to be cavemen, making fire with two sharp sticks. In fact, there was a long and, from all accounts, bitter argument about it before the colony ship launched. Even before they began recruitment."
The Doctor had interrupted again there, curious as to how the history had been pa.s.sed on without technology. Dee had explained that there were journals and some books prepared before and during the long flight that had been lovingly handed down the generations. And, of course, there was a verbal tradition; the Gen-Ones had told their tales to their offspring, who had pa.s.sed them on to their own children.
There were quite a few legends, and a few songs, about those first pioneers. "Some of them may even be true." Dee grinned at the Doctor before returning to the task of answering his questions.
"When Ransom and his people began thinking about it, they realised that the real explosion in technology came in the twentieth century, so they decided that their cut-off point had to be before that. But at the same time they knew that they had to give us a level of technology that we could live with, knowing that we would have little or no contact with Earth once the colony was established."
"And that"s when Ransom had come up with the idea of the Old West. Westerns were having one of their periodic revivals in popular culture and Ransom became somewhat of a connoisseur of early Western films. Apparently he was very fond of one in particular, called Back to the Future Three Back to the Future Three for some reason." Dee added. for some reason." Dee added.
The Doctor smiled to himself. "The second of the trilogy is better," he muttered. Ransom had fallen in love with the mythical American frontier and became convinced that the new colony, on the far-flung frontier that was Axista Four, could operate at that level of technology.
"And here we are," concluded Dee with a wave of her hands, "one hundred years later and still going strong. Well, still going, at least."
The Doctor nodded. "All very well for the first volunteers: they knew what they were signing up for," he commented.
"But those that came along later, the next generations, I can"t imagine they were always so happy."
Dee explained that at first the original colonists - the Gen-Ones, as they were dubbed - had tried to keep details of the life they had left behind away from their own children, the Gen-Two kids. But kids being kids they had soon started to ask questions, and began to make more from the sum of the answers than they were intended to. And, of course, the wreck of the colony ship was a potent symbol of the past and where they had all come from. It hadn"t taken long for some of the Gen-Two kids to get into the ship and begin to find things out for themselves. That was when the ship had been made a forbidden zone but, at the same time, the colonists took it upon themselves to be a little more open with their offspring. Rather than conceal the past they began to teach it, demonstrating how and why they had made the lifestyle choices they had made. Most of the Gen-Two kids, when it was explained to them, had gone along with their parents"
choices and had thrown themselves into the routine of work on the farms with a new commitment. Some, however, resented the decisions and yearned for the secret technologies hidden on the ship. The seed had grown over the years, from a few malcontents to whole families that became disenchanted with the experiment and disengaged from the programme. Eventually it had led to the group of rebels who adopted the t.i.tle "Realist" - a group that had challenged Tam"s leadership for years before finally breaking away some four years earlier.
The Doctor had allowed Dee to pour him another cup of tea. "One of the few things we can get to grow here," she explained.
The Doctor looked at her carefully - she was clearly an intelligent woman. "Do you think the Realists have a point?"
Dee looked away, not hurrying to answer. "I don"t know. If we could at least do some simple DNA work with our crops we might have more of a chance; Earth crops need a little help on alien soil, it"s basic biology and chemistry..."
The Doctor nodded. "But a principle is a principle."
Dee smiled. "It"s the way I was brought up," she confessed.
"I wonder what Ransom would do, if he were here?"
pondered the Doctor.
"Not the first time I"ve heard that thought. Unfortunately he"s dead, and his daughter, who"d be the next best thing, is as near as dead too."
"His daughter?"
Dee explained that not all of the Gen-One colonists had survived the crash. Some had been killed outright but there were also a small number, Kirann Ransom amongst them, who were in cryogenic suspension and remained that way now.
"They"ve been asleep all this time?" the Doctor was amazed.
"We"ve lost the expertise to revive them." Dee looked rather embarra.s.sed. The automatic systems were damaged in the crash and no one has the technical knowledge to bring them out manually. At least no one has dared to try."
"Perhaps it"s not just a matter of technical and medical ignorance that prevented any attempt," commented the Doctor astutely. "Would your leaders really want another Ransom around suddenly?"
Dee grinned in agreement. "She was named by Ransom as his deputy; were she to be revived she would automatically become the colony leader," she confirmed, before adding, "although I"m not that sure Tam would mind..."
Suddenly there was a terrific sonic boom and some ma.s.sive shape shot across the sky, blocking the sun. A moment or two later there was a rumble and the ground beneath their feet shuddered, knocking a frightened and confused Dee to the ground. "What the h.e.l.l was that?" she shouted at the Doctor who was on his feet and looking out over the plain.
"A s.p.a.ceship. Big one, I"d say," he told her. Dee was still wide-eyed with the shock. The Doctor realised that she would never have seen or heard anything like that in her entire life.
"I rather think," he commented with a certain glee, "that the Cavalry has arrived..."
Chapter Six.
Veena always thought it was a bit ostentatious to take the largest of the Hannibal"s Hannibal"s three scout ships on a mission like this, but such a modest thought was beyond Major Cartor. three scout ships on a mission like this, but such a modest thought was beyond Major Cartor.
He liked to make an entrance and in nor he was guaranteed to do just that. It was a real in-your-face shuttlecraft, bristling with weaponry and sensors, designed with the intention of making a statement: the statement being: "We"re here, we"re armed, we"re in charge!"
The extra loop in their descent, which had taken Thor Thor directly over the settlement, had been a completely unnecessary embellishment, guaranteed not only to make sure the colonists saw them coming but also to antagonise them as well. Veena knew full well that Cartor knew that too, but it was something else that he was not worried about. directly over the settlement, had been a completely unnecessary embellishment, guaranteed not only to make sure the colonists saw them coming but also to antagonise them as well. Veena knew full well that Cartor knew that too, but it was something else that he was not worried about.
After six months on board the Hannibal Hannibal without a planet fall, Cartor was getting a little stir crazy. He needed to get some earth beneath his feet. He was itching for a fight and quite happy to provoke one if necessary. without a planet fall, Cartor was getting a little stir crazy. He needed to get some earth beneath his feet. He was itching for a fight and quite happy to provoke one if necessary.
Having buzzed the town, such as it was, Cartor had his pilot bring the ship down a few kilometres away, thus ensuring that the locals, when they finally arrived, would be both hot and bothered. There were, of course, land vehicles stored in the hull of Thor Thor that could have taken Cartor, Veena and a security team directly into the town but Cartor wanted them to come to him. It was as close to something as subtle as psychology that Cartor was able to come. As far as Veena was concerned this kind of mind game was nothing if not totally unsubtle but she knew it worked for Cartor, and that was what mattered. At least while she was under his command. When that could have taken Cartor, Veena and a security team directly into the town but Cartor wanted them to come to him. It was as close to something as subtle as psychology that Cartor was able to come. As far as Veena was concerned this kind of mind game was nothing if not totally unsubtle but she knew it worked for Cartor, and that was what mattered. At least while she was under his command. When (if, (if, she thought bitterly for a moment) she ever got the promotion due to her, and a command of her own, she would do things differently. But without Cartor"s backing that promotion would remain theoretical; so for now she was happy to go along with her Commanding Officer. she thought bitterly for a moment) she ever got the promotion due to her, and a command of her own, she would do things differently. But without Cartor"s backing that promotion would remain theoretical; so for now she was happy to go along with her Commanding Officer.
It was, therefore, only about an hour later that anything interesting happened. Veena busied herself making arrangements, and found the time to change into her dress uniform on Cartor"s orders, first impressions being so very important, according to him. When she returned to the bridge, it was just in time to hear the officer in charge make his report. Veena saw that Major Cartor was already in his dress uniform and was not impressed that he was wearing a full set of medals. She knew Cartor had earned them in the heat of battle but didn"t see the need to remind people at every opportunity. Especially these people, who wouldn"t even know their significance. A swift glance around the bridge told her that Administrator Greene wasn"t present.
She wondered why he was keeping such a low profile and what role he expected to play in their mission.
Cartor gave the command to punch the image up on the main view screen. At first Veena thought it was just a dust cloud but then, as the computer optimised the image, she could see that it was a horse-drawn cart with three pa.s.sengers. The driver being an old man wearing some kind of badge of office - could it really be a silver star? A second man, a little younger and bearded, was dressed in the same rough, practical clothes as the first, without any badges, but the third man was something else again; he appeared to be dressed like a scarecrow. Cartor looked over at Veena and caught her eye. "Better get ready with the beads and the firewater!" he joked.
Lorvalan snapped the clasp of his uniform jacket at the neck and flexed his arms. It felt good to be back in uniform. The jacket, padded but flexible, was a sensible brown colour, the tight fighting trousers a dark mixture of camouflage greens.
The boots, which incorporated pockets for a plasma pistol and a throwing knife, were of a st.u.r.dy leather amalgam.
Round his waist he wore a belt of ammunition: energy rounds for both the pistol in his boot and the larger plasma rifle slung over his shoulder. He looked across to see that Zenig was making final adjustments to his own uniform.
Both Tyrenians had been bred for combat and were much happier beings now they were once again armed.
Lorvalan had been relieved to find that the ship had remained undiscovered by the humans. With it remaining both hidden and secret Lorvalan knew that it was an advantage that he might need in any future conflict to retake the planet from the humans. For now it was best to keep it concealed. He led Zenig back to the transmat chamber and activated the control to send them back to the bunker.
On arrival Lorvalan nodded at Zenig to secure the transmat chamber and follow him back into the area of the bunker that the humans had discovered and explored. The scent of the humans was strong here and unmistakeable. Lorvalan found it disturbingly alien, it offended his nose and threatened to make him sneeze. Perhaps he was allergic to the strangely hairless creatures? The thought quickly left him, however, when he returned to the Deep Sleep room.
There were signs of some kind of disturbance: furniture broken and thrown around and the computer console he had been using earlier had been smashed. Could the humans have done this? Lorvalan stopped and sniffed the air. No, no new human smell, but there was something new.
Tyrenians had very developed senses of smell, in fact they recognised each other by odour before even visual imagery or names and it didn"t take Lorvalan long to realise whose scent he was picking up - Dyselt, the giant security officer who had insisted on being placed in one of the command cots, to enable him to be amongst the first revived so he could secure their position, whatever it was. The medics hadn"t been keen; Dyselt had a poor record with Deep Sleep and a higher-than-average rejection level for utilising an Alisorti. Lorvalan, however, had overridden the medical objections, rating Dyselt"s loyalty and determination above such matters. Now he wondered whether he had made a mistake.
He hurried over to the cot and was not surprised to see that it was empty. Dyselt must have revived in some kind of state of confusion. Lorvalan heard movement behind him and whirled round, his plasma gun already in his hand.
"It"s me, sir," said Zenig a little quickly, holding his hands up. Lorvalan slipped his gun back into the holster built into his boot.
"Sorry, Lieutenant. Security Chief Dyselt has been revived, but I fear he may be ill," Lorvalan explained hastily. He looked back into Dyselt"s cot and saw the Alisorti, pale and quivering. "Medical scanner," he ordered and Zenig hurried over to an equipment locker, opened it with a swipe of his wrist and retrieved the device Lorvalan had requested. The senior Tyrenian took it in his hairy paw and, after flicking the thing on, he pa.s.sed the sensor over the Alisorti. As he expected the scanner emitted a painful sequence of bleeps. A readout began to fill with medical detail. Lorvalan was no medic but he knew enough about basic biology to understand the message. The Alisorti that had been keeping Dyselt alive had been suffering from a relatively rare condition that occasionally affected the species, a blood disorder that was always fatal but impossible to detect in the early stages. It was one of the risks of Alisorti-a.s.sisted Deep Sleep that every Tyrenian warrior knew all too well. The condition killed the Alisorti but it could also affect any Tyrenian that bonded with it for Deep Sleep.
"Dyselt has IRV," he told Zenig grimly.
Zenig flinched and almost took a step back. IRV was not something that was talked about much and there was a wealth of rumours and myths about the condition. "You can"t catch it from the air, man," Lorvalan reminded him. Zenig didn"t seem too rea.s.sured.
"It"s still IRV," he complained. Intelligence Reducing Virus: a polite way of saying that it turned a civilised, thinking Tyrenian into a wild and savage beast.
Lorvalan nodded. For all the fear and misunderstanding there was no doubt about the effects of the condition: animalistic rage, loss of IQ, wild strength. If Dyselt was running around suffering from IRV they had to find him, and quickly. In his condition he might reveal their existence to the humans before they were ready. With their limited numbers, surprise was one of the greatest weapons in their a.r.s.enal. And they would need it if they were going to have their revenge on the humans for the unprovoked attack that had destroyed their fledgling settlement.
"We have to locate him and do what"s necessary. He shouldn"t have been able to get far on foot," Lorvalan ordered.
As they headed for the exit Zenig slipped a headset over his ears and locked the eyepiece over one eye. He then activated the radio link and made contact with the Tyrenian computer.
"Sir," he began as he a.s.similated the rush of information.
Lorvalan, already a few metres further up the tunnel cut by the humans to reach their crashed ship, stopped and looked back at him.
"What is it now?" asked his commander. Zenig knew better than to try to hide bad news.
"I don"t think we"re going to find Dyselt nearby. There"s a sled missing."
Lorvalan cursed and bared his teeth.
To Kartryte"s aged eyes it was impossibly big and bright. Of course the colony ship was once a craft that would have dwarfed this, but that he only knew as a blackened, rusting wreck, broken and useless. This ship, by contrast, was shiny, complete and fully functional. He could see the heat haze shimmering where its engines were still so much hotter than even the sun-burnished earth itself. As they had approached, the Doctor had suggested that the giant ship was just a shuttlecraft, intended for short trips between planets and near s.p.a.ce; it was his conjecture that a far bigger ship would currently be in orbit. Tam couldn"t really imagine what such a ship must look like against the inky blackness of s.p.a.ce but he suspected that one of the kids like Billy Joe would love to see it.
The sudden thought of his grandson took Tam by surprise.
In the excitement of the aborted raid he"d allowed himself to forget about the missing boy, half a.s.suming that he would return in the dead of night. In the morning he had still been missing and Tam felt a pang of guilt for not having followed it up before. And now here he was, riding across the plains to greet the first visitors the colony had received in a generation, in the company of another even more mysterious visitor. And all the while Billy Joe was missing. The Doctor was also missing a companion, though, a lad called Jamie, and although he was clearly worried he was not letting it get in the way of the job at hand. Tam thought he could take that as an example.
The Doctor had pulled from one of his capacious jacket pockets a small collapsible telescope which he was using to examine the ship as they approached it. He had noticed a symbol plastered at various points on the ship"s hull. Tam recognised the Doctor"s description: an interlocking series of circles superimposed over two stylised letters, E and F.
"Earth Federation," Kartryte had muttered by way of explanation, almost spitting the words out. Kartryte had never had any direct experience of the Federation, of course, but he had received the briefing and knowledge pa.s.sed down from Ransom himself and he had no doubt that they were bad news. His lather had told him of the first and only visit the colony had previously endured from an ESCV; his father had only been a child himself at the time but he had told Tam of the hostility and trouble that erupted. He glanced around at his other pa.s.senger. According to his father it had been a Freedom - Jak, Val"s grandfather - who had been in the centre of the conflict. With the Freedom family"s typical nose for trouble, Val had appeared on Tarn"s doorstep before the aftershock of the shuttle ship"s landing had dissipated. When he heard that Tam intended calling on their visitors he had invited himself to the party. Now he sat silent, watching the shuttle ship grow in size as they approached with ever-widening eyes. If it hadn"t been Val Freedom, Tam would have sworn the man was actually scared.
At length, the cart became enveloped in the shadow of the ship where they found a couple of heavily armed Federation marines waiting for them. One of them had taken the reins of the horses, a little nervously, Tam had noted with a mischievous smile, and the other had led them up a gangplank into the ship itself. The Doctor had led the way, confident and nonchalant, while Tam and Freedom had followed more slowly, looking around themselves the whole time.
It was everything that Freedom had expected and feared; shining corridors and burnished metal in all directions, the happy gurgle of electronic activity everywhere they went.
They were led into some kind of meeting room where a table had been laid with a tempting selection of food and drink.
They waited there for some time, reluctant early arrivals at a party they weren"t expecting, and unsure whether to start eating or not - or at least, Tam and Freedom were; the Doctor was not so reticent. Grabbing a plastic plate he set about piling it high with cold meats and salads from the various bowls on offer. His plate full, he then poured himself a drink of what to his delight turned out to be freshly squeezed orange juice, and returned to Tam with his acquisitions held proudly in both hands. "Tuck in," he suggested with enthusiasm. "It would be a shame to let it go to waste after they"ve made such an effort."
Just then the door opened again and three members of the crew entered: two men and a woman. The first man, bull-shaped and powerful-looking, hair trimmed to within a millimetre of his scalp, was dressed in an over-decorated military uniform. The woman was dressed in similar style but slightly more restrained and the other wore a formal business one-piece. The Doctor recognised the type at once - military personnel in dress uniform. He felt an unbearable urge to tease them: their kind always brought it out in him. The non-uniformed man was a mystery, though; his perfect skin and rigid body language felt somehow alien but the Doctor couldn"t put his finger on the reason why. He flashed him one of his most charming smiles but the icy expression on the man"s face didn"t flicker for a moment.
Major Cartor introduced himself and his First Officer Veena Myles and explained that the third individual was a Federation Official, Administrator Laken Greene. In response Kartryte told them who he was and introduced Freedom as a member of the community before turning to the Doctor, who suddenly stepped forward, arm outstretched to shake hands before Kartryte could complete the introductions.
"I"m their legal representative. You can call me the Doctor, everyone does," he burbled happily, shaking hands vigorously with all three of the strangers, but leaving the Administrator until last. Greene regarded the Doctor with some suspicion.
"I"m surprised that a colony this size has developed a legal system that requires lawyers," he commented, eyeing the Doctor"s outlandish garb sniffily.
"Oh, I"m not local," the Doctor explained happily, "I"m a visitor, a consultant to the colony if you will."
Cartor and Veena exchanged looks; this was an unexpected development.
"Have you practised long?" asked Cartor, unable to keep the doubt out of his voice.
"Oh yes. Years and years," said the Doctor, a twinkle in his eye, "And I"m getting better all the time..."
Freedom discovered a sudden cough to cover his not entirely smothered laughter. The Doctor winked at Kartryte and turned back to Cartor. "Shall we get started, then?"
The skimmer sped across the plain on a bed of air, throwing up a dust trail that could be seen for kilometres. Dyselt didn"t care; he wasn"t even aware of the dust. All he was aware of was the smell that had greeted him when he awoke: the smell of the aliens, the scent of humans. And now he was on the hunt, filled with the urge to find the humans and damage them, to repay the violation of his bunker.
Although his brain was still fizzy from the revival he had enough of a grasp of his facilities to operate a scanner and had quickly located the bulky signal that could only be the humans" crashed ship. It had taken moments to find the skimmer, charged and ready to go. And now, in the distance, he could see the top of the human ship, sticking up at a peculiar angle. Soon the carnage could begin.
Zoe sighed and opened her eyes. The light was intense and it hurt. Her throat was dry. Wincing against the bright sunlight, she pulled herself up and took in her surroundings.
She was on a bed, one of half a dozen in the room, which, she realised, was actually part of some kind of prefabricated structure. She reached out for the walls and found that they were made of plastic. Carefully she got to her feet. She saw that she was wearing a long cotton nightdress and wondered who had undressed her. More to the point, where were her clothes? Looking around, she saw that the room was full of a strange mixture of medical equipment: some relatively high-tech, but the majority basic and crude. There were jars and vials of medicines that looked more like home-brew ale than anything else, a mortar and pestle, and some containers of dried herbs. There were also a number of pots of growing plants and herbs. Dotted around the room, however, were a few more modern pieces of equipment, some breathing apparatus, a defibrillator, a body scanner, but most of this looked as if it was rarely, if ever, used. The whole place was like a cross between a medieval apothecary"s and a modern medical laboratory.