Tag: Sci-fi

Pegasus (Part 46)

After an exhausting few hours of traipsing over stony hillsides in the deadening heat, they finally reached the outskirts of the lush forest. It started with one lonesome tree but gradually they became densely packed. No longer would they have to keep one eye on the sky in terror.

Tabitha appeared to relish the change of environment as she ferociously hacked her way through the dense undergrowth. I simply let her at it. I was already tired and my face was burning sore from the light source. The shade was of immense comfort.

He smelled the threat over the flowers a few seconds before hearing it. It was the smell of rotten flesh. Tabitha froze before looking back at me. Her face was frozen in fear. Then we heard its roar. It reverberated through every cell in our bodies. The ground was shaking. I pointed to the base of a large tree and we both tried to hide behind it.

Then an enormous beast rushed passed us. Its long neck flapped back and forth before the beast sunk its teeth into its lower neck. The two of us looked into each other’s eyes and then ran trying not to trip on the roots and brambles. We need not have worried. It had its prey.

After a few minutes, we stopped and took a breath.

“Your face is all red. Are you okay?”

“Yes,” I replied, “it’s my white skin and the light.”

“Not good, I am worried about you. Come on, this way.”

Sometime later, we finally reached the railway line. The plan was simple. To stop the train so we could board.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (13)

“Not what you expected to see, is it?” the ambassador croaked.

It was as if his heart had been pierced by a bullet. Except, this wasn’t a physical pain that he was experiencing but something far worse and it pulsated through every part of his being.

The ambassador continued.

“You have been away far longer than you thought. All of our journey has not been through the Warp. Not that you noticed. Some of our journey was done at light speed. Time went far faster for the people of Uisneach than it did for us. Everybody that you ever knew on that planet is long dead.

I have seen it in your eyes- questioning the wisdom of the Emperor. Perhaps, now you will understand the better not to question him.”

A million different thoughts swirled through Timothy’s head. Sweat dripped from his forehead as his body temperature rose exponentially. He was in his battle chair. All he had to do was to turn on its weapons and he could kill everyone on the bridge. But it would achieve nothing.

He latched onto the thought of saving his home world and tried to block out any other thoughts.

Then he simply said.

“I serve the will of the Emperor.”

Pegasus (Part 45)

I gasped in exasperation. The odds were not good of us ever making our destination. Looking around at the rugged, hilly, rocky landscape I wondered how I found myself in this situation.

Tabitha reached out and placed her hand firmly on my arm. My heartbeat fell and I felt back in control.

I looked into her eyes.

“Will we do it?” I asked.

“We will babe.”

And that was that.

Over the next few days, the plans were finalized. The fate of perhaps hundreds of billions of people would rest on our shoulders.

The day we set out the whole base waved us off in their shabby clothes. Almost certainly more in hope than any real sense of confidence that we would succeed. There were no smiling faces. Just the strong aroma of the meat we had feasted on.

Over the rocky hills, we went following the same path from where we came. All the time keeping one eye on the sky and always fearful of what lay around the next corner. At least this time we were far better armed. We both had Grade A lasers. The best two weapons that the resistance had retrieved from a storage bunker just for us. A volley of shots would be enough to bring down any beast.

Still, they were only to be used as a last resort as it would reveal the presence of the Resistance in the world.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (12)

All of Timothy’s former confidence and exuberance returned in the coming days. Finally, he would be back on his homeworld and there was a glorious battle to look forward to. That part though increasingly worried him. Even as he drilled his loyal troops in the shuttle area, negative thoughts and those bordering on chaos kept entering his mind.

Would he be able to watch the obliteration of his world if commanded?

If the Emperor was truly all powerful surely he could snap his fingers and put the enemy out of existence?

He knew such thoughts were heresy. But still they came.

Instead he tried to think of the positives. Of seeing his father and Audrey again.

He patiently waited till the day came that he could set his wheels on Uisneach once more. And he knew that it had arrived when the summons to the bridge came.

He drove out onto the bridge in full military regalia with all his medals proudly strapped to his chest.

But then he stopped his wheelchair stunned, his mouth ajar at what he saw in front of him.

It was Uisneach and yet it wasn’t. He recognized the two megacities protruding from the planet but other things were so different. He had expected to see a barren, poisoned world but there were lush forests, grasslands and agricultural fields covering the planet with ostensibly human settlements dotted throughout. The sea was a deep blue hinting at abundant marine life.

Pegasus Part 44

He was right. I didn’t like it. And neither did Tabitha. But damn it, it was the best one that I had heard. It was beautiful in its simplicity if somewhat lacking in details.

His name was Nebus. He was much older than the others. The arrows of time etched across his face.

Speaking excitedly, he continued, “You share his genetic makeup and even look like him.”

“So, what?” I thought he was going for a dig but I was wrong.

“You will be granted access to his city in the Adonis habitat, you see. You could bring Tabitha too. You could cut off the head of the snake when it least expected it.”

I felt a knot building in my stomach and replied, “It would never work.”

Then I heard Tabitha say softly.

“It just might. We can do it, babe.”

With that, I knew there would be no turning back. All I had to do was look into her eyes and see her steely determination. For the next few days, the plan of action was determined.

The Adonis habitat consisted of a giant multi-layered spherical structure. It lay on the outer rim of habitats outside the orbit of the Moon. To get there alive, we would have to hop from habitat to habitat to avoid detection.

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (11)

Timothy felt a sharp jolt through every fiber of his body. Exhalation but with a mix of dread. Finally, he would make it back it his home planet, back to the Alpha. And bloodletting and women too. It had been far too long.

But the threat from the Tyranids is grave. Everybody and everything he had ever loved or known faced destruction. His homeworld faced losing all of its life and being transformed into a dead rock. No more hive cities and even its toxic atmosphere would be no more. But if it were to be the end, it would indeed be glorious. A battle to the end against the Empire’s ultimate adversary.

The Emperor’s Representative wretched croaky voice brought him back to the moment.

“We’ll reach Uisneach in just a few days. The Alpha has been notified of your arrival. The world’s population is being enlisted into the armed forces. You are to lead the planetary defense, for the glory of the Emperor.

You will face a large Tyranid force. Plans are already in place should it look like to planet may fall. The Empire must persist no matter the cost.”

Timothy suddenly found himself talking.

“Uisneach will not fall.”

Pegasus Part 43

It took days to get the carnage back under control. All the time I feared the return of the monster or one of his comrades. That fear was etched on the faces of everyone else too in the flickering of their eyes or the way they would shake uncontrollably staring into the night of the sky. An intricate warning system of lookouts had been created, but some had been found falling asleep.

At least the smell of rotting flesh had abated replaced by the smell of the local plant life. Tabitha was now sharing my tent. Each night, I would gaze into those beautiful dark eyes and kiss her goodnight. Our bodies pressed close.

At times, avid conversations would break out over what to do next. Then they would peter out. Or they did, until that faithful day.

We were all sitting by a campfire in a large circle. A man full of nervous excitement walked across to me and Tabitha.

“Would you do it?”

“Do what?”

“Cut off the serpent’s head when it least expected it?”

“What are you on about?” Tabitha asked, her eyes wide open.

“We have come up with a plan. But I’m not sure you are going to like it.”

Wheelchair Wars Part 3 (10)

The day that Timothy would never forget started just like the dozens of ones before. Opening his eyes, the care-bot was there by his bed awaiting any instructions. Timothy had planned to ignore it just like every other day. His compact room had long felt more like a prison cell.

But then it spoke –

“The General has instructed you to visit his quarters in two hours. This directive has been given the highest priority.”

The thought of seeing that mass murderer sickened him. But, it was the will of the Emperor and he would obey.

“Get me up,” he commanded.

The robot meticulously went through the required routine. It gave Timothy time to think but he could think of nothing for the General to want to see him

Two hours later he was entering the General’s lair in his battle chair.

The room stank of decay. The General was standing there waiting for him in the middle of the room. His face was almost skeletal and he was draped in black cloth.

He began to speak.

“Do not be shocked by my appearance. I have been away from the Emperors life force for too long.

I have seen the hatred in your eyes. But I did what needed to be done for the good of the Empire and Emperor. It has largely been successful. There is just one hive ship of menace left and it’s next target is Uisneach.”

Timothy feels what little muscle he has, has grown tense. He wants to open fire to save his home.

“But there will be no Terminatus of Uisneach. Wheelchair Wars has become known throughout the Galaxy. Therefore the planet must be defended and that is what I want you to do.”

Pegasus Part 41

Satiated, I turned and made my way back up the rocky trail to the encampment. At times, being forced to climb I thought there must be an easier way. The scene of devastation remained much the same.

I began to feel uneasy as I walked into the center of the encampment. The cries of pain and anguish had stopped. There was an eerie silence. Then I noticed that all the piecing eyes were focused on me. Their faces were etched with anger. Roars broke the silence.

“He’s one of them.”

“Get him.”

What the fuck?

Tabitha appears out of the corner of my eye. She jumps in front of the growing, braying mob.

“Listen, he’s not one of them. He saved my life. It’s not his fault how he looks.”

And I thought she liked my looks. What the hell is going on?

They shouted back at her.

“You should not have brought him here!”

“Kill him!”

I look around for somewhere to run but there is nowhere. All escape routes are now blocked off by rows of people.

“I love him. If you touch him, I am gone.”

Nobody had said anything like that about me before. The angry crowd seemed to be stunned too. The shouting stopped and they dissipated.

Tabitha looked back at me and then walked away.

Pegasus Part 40

Eventually, someone pointed at me and told me that I should go clean myself up. That there was water down a narrow ravine. They were correct, if I was going to comfort people I needed to look the part and not remind them of the horror.

So I made my way down. It was steep and at times I had to resort to climbing down. There was a time not so long ago when this would have made me fearful but no longer. I had been through too much.

After a few minutes, I finally made it down to what was a large pond with a sand embankment. I went to get in but then froze in fear remembering a program about Earth and its crocodiles. If I remember correctly, it stated that some of its species had been around since the dinosaurs. They could be in this pond.

I scanned my eyes over the water but there was no movement. A wall of rock lay on the other side. Slowly, I took steps towards the water before taking off my top, and then trousers and dipped them into it. Slowly the blood came out. Then I splashed some on my face. It felt nice to the skin and had no foul odor. Feeling parched, I knew I needed to drink. Fortunately, I had figured out that it wasn’t stagnant water. It was dripping into the pond in a mini waterfall through a crack on the opposite wall and draining slowly away somewhere underneath. It was never going to be perfect, I just had to risk it. I lurched forward on his hands and knees and sipped voraciously.