Authors: Edward Chilvers
That evening there was some unrest in the arboretum. Although things had settled down a little since the ascendancy of Hari Shorr there were still isolated pockets of trouble, mostly by those grieving the loss of their loved ones. There was also a small but persistent group of troublemakers who felt Hari Shorr hadn’t gone far enough and should be calling for the blood of the Council. So far Hari had been able to keep these people in check but as time went on their voices were bound to grow louder. On this occasion the unrest was not too serious, yet more drunken behaviour that Sol, Jak and the few remaining officers were well able to deal with. Sol was not sorry he’d had the excuse to come here. It meant he could spend some time with Ambra.
“Once again it seems it’s all going to be down to us,” said Arianna bitterly.
“That’s not true,” said Sol. “There will be a much larger contingent this time. Many of the counsellors will be going; Banda Ure and Prima Blak for example.”
“The Suki II is our only chance, you know that? If it turns out to be just a busted shell we’re right back to where we started.”
The Council meeting of the following day was dominated with plans to rescue the starship. “The best we can hope for is an evacuation,” said Banda Ure. “We certainly cannot hope to remain here. From what I have heard of the
Suki II
it was a large starship and should contain more than enough supplies to see us through for the foreseeable future, at least until we get its arboretum working again.”
“Imagine if there is nothing aboard the Suki II,” said Sol. “Imagine what that will do to people. At the moment everyone is calm over the food supplies. If we come back with loot from the other starship we’ll all be saved and our problems will be over. If not we’re facing another war whether or not we have possession of the control room.”
Just then there came a loud banging on the door of the meeting room. Hari Shorr strutted in without being asked, accompanied by four of his supporters.
“You’re planning something,” said Hari Shorr accusingly. “And you’re cutting me out of it. Why is this? Are you planning to flee, is that it?”
“Of course not,” replied Arianna defensively. “Where would we go?”
“Perhaps you found somewhere the other day,” said Hari Shorr archly.
“I would never flee,” said Arianna sternly. “You still have my daughter, remember?”
“We want action,” declared Hari Shorr.
“You had action the other day,” replied Jak. “Myself and Arianna went out to risk our lives, remember? If you would like to go out and risk your own lives you’re more than welcome, although come to think of it none of you know how to fly a rover and I can’t see anyone getting past those revenants on foot without being ripped to pieces where they stand.”
“You’re in no position to start getting flippant with us,” sneered Hari. “You’re the ones who got us into this mess. If you hadn’t have stumbled upon that nest of vipers we’d still be sitting pretty in our homes.”
“And just waiting for the revenants to find us and tear into us anew,” interrupted Sol. “Yet as it happens we do have a plan.”
“Really?” Said Hari Shorr. “What is it?”
“You are still not a member of the Council,” said Sol cagily. “I still consider myself in charge here.”
“Oh really?” Spat Hari Shorr. “Then what am I?”
“A minor inconvenience,” said Sol, narrowing his eyes.
“And aren’t all of us in the arboretum just that to you?” Sneered Hari Shorr. “I think we had better look after your daughter a little while longer, Chairman. It is clear you are planning to sell us out at the earliest opportunity.”
“Nobody is going to sell anybody out,” said Jak firmly, stepping up to face Hari Shorr. “As a matter of fact we have today come across a discovery which might have saved us all.”
“Have you indeed?” Asked Hari Shorr sceptically. “And what, pray tell, might that be?”
“Tomorrow,” said Jak abruptly. “You will have to await the announcement.”
Hari Shorr’s face twisted into a dark expression and he eyed the communications room hopefully, wondering if there might by a chink in the defences through which he might rush and take control of the ship once and for all. But it was a futile hope. “You had best be true to your word, Chairman,” he said at last, addressing Sol. “For your daughter’s sake as well as your own.”
“I’m not having him disrupting our plans,” said Banda Ure after the rebel leader had left. “The idiot doesn’t know what he’s doing. I’m still a day or so away from getting everything ready. The last thing I need is him breathing down my neck.”
“Maybe there will be something on the Suki II that will allow us to be rid of that cockroach once and for all,” muttered Jared Bynce.
“We need to undermine him,” said Sol. “Take the wind out of his sails; gain ourselves a quick triumph to give the people confidence in us. The people want action.
“Very well,” said Jak decisively. “If they want action we’ll give them action. Get ready to fire up the engines.”
“You can’t seriously be suggesting we try to take off?” Said Sol in astonishment.
“I’m not,” said Jak.
Jak shot the rover up into the air and ascended almost to the clouds at a rapid pace so that he was but a speck against the clear blue sky. He rose with expert precision, too fast for even the lightening reflexes of the revenants who belatedly leapt after him. Suddenly Jak swooped the rover down low. The revenants were upon him at once of course, a huge multitude leaping into the air in order to claim him but he was able to swerve out of the way in time. The revenants rushed towards the other side of the starship, piling one on top of the other. Jak pulled up high once more and at that moment Jared Brynce fired up the engines. Thousands of revenants were disintegrated in a fraction of a second. In time the engine jets ceased leaving behind an intense firestorm. Revenants ran this way and that, for this was a far greater heat than that of the explosives. Arianna watched revenants fall and writhe in agony upon the ground, and like the rest of the colonists she revelled in the agony they were suffering. Twisted black lumps of burnt flesh littered the area. She almost imagined she could smell the blackened meat of their corpses. Cheers rang out across the starship and the cry rang out in unison; “Again! Again!” The revenants were dispirited and disorientated. They herded around the scorched earth seemingly oblivious to any danger and did not attempt to jump on the rover, meaning that Jak could land the craft at his leisure. All the same many had survived, albeit with horrific injuries but for now it did not seem to matter. This display of fire and scorched flesh had been a great morale booster and it had purchased the Council all the time they needed to make plans for the expedition to the
Suki II
.
There were loud cheers when Jak returned. Both Council and colonist greeted him back as a hero. Hari Shorr was nowhere is sight. But there was a price to be paid for the momentary triumph. “There is not enough juice left for another shot,” said Jared Brynce with a shake of his head. “That sort of thrust would ordinarily only be used for taking off. Give us a couple of days and we might try again.”
That evening more revenants appeared to fill the gaps. They tramped over the bodies of their fallen comrades, oblivious to the still scorching ground. Still, the actions had been a huge boost to morale and had helped tip the balance of power towards the Council.
That same evening the Council compounded its triumph by announcing the discovery of the
Suki II
and the subsequent expedition. Sol travelled down to the arboretum to make the announcement in person, lapping up the cheers of the assembled colonists. Meanwhile Jak viewed the astonishment on Hari Shorr’s face with satisfaction. The opposition leader had been completely thrown off balance by the Council’s revelation. “I estimate we will be away for a few days,” Jak told him afterwards.
“You never told us this,” said Hari Shorr resentfully. “What else have you been keeping from us?”
“You would have wanted is to set out straight away,” said Jak. “It is a habit with you to moan from the safety of the arboretum whilst we risk our lives for the ship.”
Hari Shorr continued to complain bitterly but the momentum was with Jak and the rest of the Council. Still, he was not beaten yet. “I will go too,” declared Hari Shorr. “You call me a coward well I tell you I am as brave as the rest of them, have been made brave by my recent experiences, with the loss of my family. Yes, you will have to make space for me.”
Jak shrugged. “As you wish.”
The news was warmly welcomed throughout the ship but the general feeling was sceptical all the same. After so many setbacks the colonists had learned to be pessimistic as regards the promises of their leaders.
17
The following day showed a bright and sunny morning from the clear glass of the arboretum. Arianna and the others destined for the mission had been issued with a climate suit designed for surviving short bursts in space. It was the best they could come up with and Arianna was not at all sure how it was going to bear up to the freezing winds of the far north. Joining Arianna on the mission would be Prima Blak, Dr Palk and Hari Shorr. Sol had wanted to come but there simply wasn’t the space in the rover what with all the equipment they needed to take with them. In the end he reluctantly agreed to remain behind on the starship once more.
As the rover rose up into the air Sol fired the missiles down the garbage chutes as a means of distraction and the watching colonists were once more greeted with the display of revenants being exploded into the air, for all the good it did. “I really hope this pays off,” said Jak guardedly as he peered down at the devastation. “We’re running short of explosives.”
For a while the revenants attempted to follow them but were soon left behind as the rovers picked up speed. Once the revenants were out of sight and they were flying over the clouds the atmosphere relaxed somewhat and the mood gave way to excited chatter and speculation. Hari Shorr brooded silently for the most part. It was clear to Arianna he was still angry at having been left out of the disclosure and was looking for an opportunity to re-establish his power base.
After a time the green plains gave way to tundra and mountains. Below the wind kicked up a snowstorm so that the ground below could not be seen. The rover began to rock back and forth with the turbulence. Arianna looked over towards Hari Shorr and saw how the faction leader had gone green. She looked at the radar screen and instructed Jak to slow down. “Here we are,” she said at last, when the rover had stopped seemingly in the middle of a sea of whirling crowds. Directly below the remains of the Suki.”
As they descended the clouds appeared to part spontaneously. Arianna looked down upon an icy landscape. A permanent mist was descended over the ground as far as the eye could see, a mist that seemed to swirl and rage. Arianna realised it was a blizzard. She had never witnessed one so large before, and especially not from overhead. The rover descended downwards and back into the white chaos, came down slowly for the winds were harsh and terrible. Arianna thought she saw an outline of grey but it was gone before she could blink. Such was the chaos below Arianna could not even tell when they had landed. They might as well have been thousands of feet back up in the clouds.
“So here we are,” said Jak cheerfully. “According to this data the Suki II is but a couple of hundred yards away.”
The occupants of the rover turned and craned their heads but they could see nothing. “Are we really to go outside in all that?” Asked Hari Shorr with disdain.
“You are more than welcome to remain here in the rover,” said Dr Palk with more than a little hope. “We should be back in around six hours.”
“No chance,” muttered Hari Shorr.
They had never known a cold like it. Even in their protective suits the wind almost swept them off their feet. Arianna imagined the blood in her fingers was starting to freeze. The snow lashed their faces and they were was forced to bend low in the face of the wind. The wind was so loud and brutal that speech was impossible and the party were forced to communicate with hand gestures. They had been on the ground less than a minute and already this was the coldest she had ever been. At one point Arianna was almost blown off her feet and she was forced to bend herself almost horizontal to proceed. The walk took a long time and it seemed much longer thanks to the biting cold, something none of them had ever experienced before.
Jak beckoned them all forwards and they proceeded slowly.
Arianna squeezed her hand around the data stick and looked down, squinting her eyes for the blizzard made it almost impossible to see. According to the tracking device they were right on top of the thing. Arianna felt a surge of dread, remembering what Prima Blak had said about the vessel being buried beneath several hundred feet of ice. She put the device back in her belt and stretched out her hands which connected with something solid. Arianna stopped short. She felt a hand upon her shoulder. It was Jak. He was feeling it too. “This is it!” Cried Jak, placing his mouth really close to her ear and shouting as loudly as he could. “The Suki II!”
“But what sort of state is it in?” Shouted back Arianna. “For all we know we might be feeling one of thousands of busted pieces of shrapnel.”