Authors: Emma Taylor
“What is your name?” I asked the alien as I turned to him.
“Bolan. And you are Amanda?” he said. I nodded.
“Amanda Starling at your service. I have a place to go where we will not be found. It is not far either, but we may be stuck there for awhile. This could be good or bad. If we disappear completely they may move on. According to my friend, as you heard, we won't have long.”
He looked conflicted but knew he had to trust me, and I him. We had no choice. He knew why they were after him, and I, I knew I had to help. I gestured him to follow me and we went to my back door. I pulled out a view tube and focused in on our destination. I handed him the tube.
“Your friend is also your sister?” he asked, taking the tube from me and looking where I pointed.
“Not by blood no. She homesteaded not long after me and we immediately became friends. Neither of us actually has a sister so we sort of adopted each other.” I pointed again where we were going.
“See that little circle of stunted fruit trees?” I said. “About 100 yards beyond the pump house and generator station.” He saw what I was talking about, and nodded in assent. “There is a stump in the center of the trees. Near that are the controls to open a hidden place underground there. That is where we are going. It is mostly open ground so if they have something in the air they may spot us. Once inside I guarantee they won't be able to find us.”
“Okay,” he answered. “If they have air cover right now it will be drones. They usually drop mines and other nasty things and then let them sit awhile. People are either trapped or dead when they come to clear the area. We will not have to worry about being seen. Is this hiding place recorded anywhere, blueprints, records?” I shook my head no. “Then before we go I have one question, Amanda.”
I sighed, feeling a pressure to get going. “What?” I said.
“Why did you save me?” he said. He held my gaze and I could not look away from those
turquoise eyes. They seemed to glow with an intensity I could not avoid or match.
“I...I saw your mother and father's picture. All you were trying to do was get back to them. I couldn't let you die. You heard my mother.” He continued staring into my eyes for another few seconds that felt like an eternity before he looked away. We stood at the back door looking out in silence for a moment. I knew my answer was not a rational reason but he accepted it. I wondered what he had read in my eyes. I shook my head.
“Ok Bolan, let’s get there. We both can figure out my motivations later.”
He silently agreed with a nod and we went out the back.
We were halfway to the pump house when the sky exploded in lights and a whizzing sound. He tackled me to the side as the ground rocked and then dragged me to my feet.
“Come on!” he yelled and we were running. Flashes of light and explosions were going off all around us as we ran those few hundred yards. One explosion hit too close. I was temporarily blinded and my shoulder felt like it had exploded. I screamed in pain as I hit the ground. I felt arms around me and I was lifted from the ground.
“I got you. Don't pass out on me Starling. I don't know how to get in!” He was shouting over the barrage that was coming down around us. My eyesight began to return, and we were getting closer to the stump. Another explosion knocked him off of his feet and we both hit the ground. I screamed again as my shoulder felt like it had been ripped apart. Gasping I looked around and saw the tree trunk a few feet away. I tried to twist around to see behind us.
“The rock, a big rock, over there,” I said. Bolan said something in his language that sounded like a curse and began dragging me back towards the rock.
“You could have mentioned that!” he shouted. I could see above us and there were little explosions going off. They were seeding my land with mines as well as something else. Something dangerous. My shoulder felt like it was being eaten away. Moments later we were lying next to the rock. I managed to move my good arm over and reached for the rock. As my hand covered it I tapped out the proper code. It took me two tries because my hand was shaking so badly. It worked though. Right next to us the ground slid open. Bolan tugged me with him and we rolled into my little safe house and down some stairs. As soon as the door slid shut there was a muffled explosion from above and it caused me to cry out again.
My land!
I screamed to myself in panic. What were they doing? It seemed everything I had built and dreamed of was being destroyed above me. I tried to push myself up, but my shoulder’s pain exploded again. I screamed and began sobbing, trying to fight the Tulian who was helping me. I did not know why, I just couldn't stop. I had to fight for myself!
“Easy, Starling! Easy!” I heard him say and then I felt a jab in my thigh and a hissing sound, soft under the sound of a drone attack above my head. Then everything went black.
*****
I awoke slowly and groggily. As I shifted position my shoulder twinged, but felt like it was heavily wrapped. I opened my eyes and saw I was on the big bed in the corner of my hideaway. Bolan was sitting next to the bed reading one of my history books. He looked over and saw me.
“Ah good. You are awake,” he said putting the book down. He had been reading by the small light of a table lamp and reached over, turning it up. I blinked against the sudden brightness.
“How do you feel?” he said. “It took me while to find your med kit. Mine was not suitable for most of your injuries.”
I shifted position and my shoulder ached and began throbbing, but it was not too bad. It was actually in a hard cast, and I could not move it. The binding went down almost to my elbow and covered my shoulder on the left side. From my shoulder to my elbow was straight out to the side and stuck that way. Fortunately I was right-handed. I realized I had a bandage on the left side of my head. I reached around carefully with my good arm and felt the bandage. Some of my hair had been shaved above my ear and my head was tender under the bandage.
“I have felt better,” I said. “All things considered I could be worse. Thank you for saving me. I guess we are even.” My voice sounded weak and I hated that.
“My pleasure in returning the favor,” he said. “I just hope I did as good a job. Your wounds were pretty nasty. It was digger shrapnel that got you, I think.”
I had no idea what that was and said so, immediately followed by my stomach rumbling hungrily. He smiled and I blushed.
“I have some food prepared and found you have a cache of your wonderful beer. I helped myself to one. It is a favorite among Tulians, you know.”
“Really, I did not know that,” I said, startled.
He went over and took some food out of the prep machine and brought it back with a cold beer from the cooling box. I was already sitting up with the blankets up to my waist. I realized he must have dressed me while I was unconscious, and blushed slightly. I was wearing the large red blouse I had stuck in my bag. It was sleeveless, which was probably why he chose it. I would have protested but I had stripped his clothes and dressed him while he was unconscious. My turn now, I guessed.
He lay the plate in my lap and set the beer within reach of my good hand on the night table.
“Oh yes, some Candlee Tulians raved about it and sent some to my brother and I. Your sweet ingredient is amazing. We often spoke of Starling Beer. If we had been able, we would have tried and ordered some directly through you instead of the case or two sent our way now and then.” I was surprised but did not respond. Instead I ate, to quiet my stomach.
When I finished a few minutes later I remembered what he had said before.
“What is a digger shrapnel?” I asked. He looked grim.
“It is a particularly disgusting piece of artillery designed by Candlcorp for the Federation military. Essentially it is intelligent shrapnel. When the small grenades go off and splinter, each piece that hits anything of flesh will dig through it in a direct line from where the piece entered. You had two pieces that made their way through your shoulder in two separate places. It caused a lot of damage. I did what I could, but you are going to need an actual surgeon to put you back together right. I am sorry Starling. Medical is not my field.” He looked grieved over it. I think normally I would have been more upset than I was, but he had no reason to feel bad.
“Don't worry,” I said. “I am alive and wouldn't be if it wasn't for you. Thank you, it turns out it is a good thing I helped you out. If I hadn't, this would still have happened and I would have died up top.” I gestured to the ceiling and took a sip of the beer. The beer I had stashed here in my hideout was some of my finest. I kept it for special occasions. I realized I wasn't hearing anything from upstairs then and asked about that.
“It is mid-afternoon, Starling. You were unconscious for a while. This is a marvelous place you have, but I do wish there was a way to see what is going on up top without risking a blast to the head.” I felt like smiling for the first time, really smiling so I gave him a big one and gestured to the ceiling light. The bulbs circled a metal base that came down a foot or so from the ceiling with two thinner bars that stuck out to either side. It looked like a useless part of the lighting. I directed him to grab those bars and pull them down. He did and almost let go as the center bar extended downward and a small screen popped out.
“You can rotate in a circle and see in all directions. It has a good view. I built a screen around and into the tree trunk above us. We should be able to see in all directions without anyone knowing.” I was extremely proud of the work I had done on that. I got the idea from ancient history actually. “Ancient underwater vessels would have something like that so they could see what was above the water without showing themselves. They called it a periscope.” He was murmuring appreciation and he played with the focus and turned in a circle.
“There are a few soldiers about,” he began. “But your house is fine. A few scorch marks, but the house itself looks sealed up. The pump house and generator was damaged I think, but other than that your place looks okay.” He stopped looking and when he let go the periscope rose back up to its original position.
“Fantastic. I know a few Tulian engineers that would love to see how you did that. The screen that allows you to see without being seen would be of particular interest. Screens are something of a specialty with us. It is how my brother and the other leaders took Parson with almost no bloodshed.” I raised an eyebrow.
“We saw some footage that looked pretty brutal,” I said.
He nodded.
“I am sure you did. It looked a lot like what went on upstairs with us huh?” I nodded and then realized what he said. He nodded again, grimly.
“Yes, after we took Parson they sent in troops and artillery. They did not discriminate where or what they blew up. They were trying to shock us I hear. It worked, in a sense. Due to their response it was realized we could never just walk away. The Federation, or the Candlcorp, wanted us dead. It was Candlcorp that started the whole thing.”
I sighed. He was volunteering what had happened. I had not even had to ask.
“How so?” I asked quietly. He sighed and came back to sit next to me and turned slightly to face me more fully.
“We first received colonization grants from corporations that allowed us to start colonizing a new world, which we called Neo-Tulia. Our home world Tulia was no longer able to support our population so the colonization of Neo-Tulia was a wonderful thing. Due to a clause in the contract, since the grant was considered a “free” gift, they had some hold on the person who took the grant. Or their family.”
I nodded.
“You know it?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Most people did not pay to close attention but I felt I needed to be on top of everything. I did not like that clause so I used the second part of the clause to pay the grant back with the going interest rate at the time. My place is my place.”
He smiled slightly in appreciation. I continued.
“Actually several fellow homesteaders did the same thing. There are a handful of us who own our land completely.”
He was impressed.
“That is good,” he said. “Unfortunately we Tulians did not catch that. The corporations began taking one plot of land, or business at a time. More and more of my people’s homes and businesses were being grabbed up or the resources used up. There was nothing we could do. Corporations like Candlcorp pull most of the strings in the Federation now so we could not appeal to the Federation to help, either.
“My brother and a few others launched their plan. They took the main hub on Parson, which has all the corporation campuses and cities. It is their center for reaching out to the rest of the planets in this part of the system and the thinking was that it would stop profits enough that they could be negotiated with. Unfortunately, due to several laws passed over the last few years this brought the Federation military into it. I was back on Stately where we are from originally when it all happened. My brother is still on Parson, I think. My job was to get to my parents to keep them safe. The shuttle went down and you know the rest.”
We sat in silence for a minute.
“The Lieutenant who was going from homestead to homestead said there hadn't been a downed ship. They found an asteroid shell instead.”
Bolan smiled.
“It is good to know my shields are still working. The ship's engines are down but at least they can't find the ship.”