Two Grains of Sand

By Victor August

The brutalised and oppressed human flaws and rejects, and the throw-outs that this society had little use for, were now free of the yoke of hate that had controlled their lives. Two worlds only in freedom lived, Petra3 and this hidden world of Homeworld. The rest of the alliance, rule by Earth1, would be sending a mighty force to eradicate everything of them soon enough. This was not a speculation but an immutable truth. James knew this, now the elected King of their peoples on Petra3, and carried on, using his war strategist mentality that had won them the war, to fathom the future fight. Earth1 was his target now, the very heart of their enemy's empire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Victor August
• Release date: Jan 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370353361

Book preview

Two Grains of Sand

Copyright © 2018 by Victor August

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.

Cover Illustration Copyright © 2018 by Victor August

All characters in this publication are entirely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 9781370353361

Other books from the same author

‘One Grain of Sand’

ISBN 9781311987327

‘The Querencia Gate’

ISBN: 9781005591663

This book is dedicated to Colin,

who was kind enough to read it for me,

a good friend indeed.

‘The dust had settled now though, after those terrible battles on Petra3. Two worlds only in freedom lived, Petra3 and this hidden world of Homeworld. The rest of the alliance, ruled by Earth1, would be sending a mighty force to eradicate everything of them soon enough. This was not a speculation but an immutable truth. James knew this, now the elected King of their peoples on Petra3, and carried on, using his war strategist mentality that had won them the war, to fathom the future fight. Earth1 was his target now, the very heart of their enemy’s empire’.

Chapter 1

The feet of King’s Young Major Maan hit the ground running. Next to him to the stride, ran Esther, the King's Young Captain, and aide-de-camp to Maan. Behind them ran his eleven adult female captains and nine male captains.

The alien sights and sounds of Homeworld, and the air that they breathed in for the first time was so heavy with new smells, that their senses were saturated. Looking to the sky, he saw many flying creatures converge towards them. The first four-legged beasts they had ever seen in their lives stared at them; some were huge, with horn-clustered heads, one of these, the biggest, headed towards them. Instinctively, Maan knew this beast’s purpose was to join battle with them.

Curiously, Queen Jane of Homeworld asked ‘’Are you invading me, King James?!’’

‘’Aye, dear Queen Jane, I certainly am.’’ chuckled out James disengaging himself from their welcoming hug.

They watched what unfolded as the runners headed east away from the space shuttle landing strip.

‘’That is a bull ‘Hornhead’…’’ said Jane pointing ‘’…we call them that now to describe their species, so you should know.’’

‘’Ah! I see now what I have been told. A magnificent beast he is Queen Jane. See, he charges at my soldier pack.’’

‘’He will charge anything new to his territory, James.’’

Maan ordered ‘’Turn, face it, swords drawn!’’

Twenty-two swords left their scabbards to the sound as if only just one had been drawn. The beast bore down on the soldier pack, twice the height at the shoulder of their tallest; head scything from side to side; its multi horn cluster swishing the air.

‘’It is the beast portrayed on the Homeworld war colour's sir.’’ advised captain Lycopis.

With this confirmation, Maan instantly knew what to do, and he ordered ‘’Scatter quickly as it comes through, regroup, and then run on.’’

His captains obeyed his orders without hesitation. The beast was fast as it ploughed through them, there were acrobatic stunts from most of the soldiers to dodge its flaying horns. They ran on but turned their heads to witness what was now expected of the beast. Indeed, it stomped to a halt, turned, and waited.

‘’See, it is right; it awaits our charge back!’’ exclaimed captain Akinyemi.

‘’It will have deemed it has won his battle with us.’’ advised Maan. A bellow of triumph came from the beast. The soldier pack ran on, all hearts thumping in the excitement. Immediately homing in on them next were twenty-two lesser four-legged nightmarish creatures. Nearly waist high, blazing eyes and tearing fangs exposed, they converged on them in a half circle ahead of them. ‘’Oolves they are, remember what we know about them, bring this to mind...’’ advised Maan, then ordered ‘’…stay your weapons, pack closer together!’’

They did, but the oolves kept coming.

‘’They attack us!’’ exclaimed Akinyemi in his disappointment.

‘’Swords and parry shield ready!’’ ordered Maan.

The oolves sprang as one in attack. Esther’s parry shield slammed hard back into her chest as the leaping oolve made head on contact with her, its snapping jaws clamped, saliva splattered her face. Her short sword coming up from under her parry shield drove deep through its belly and up into the chest of the creature. It was stone dead even before it landed on the ground.

The rest of her comrades fared better using their parry shields to ward off the head-on attack. The oolves regrouped, and stood unblinking, staring at the soldiers.

‘’They assess us.’’ whispered Akinyemi. When he looked deep into the eyes of the lead oolve, he saw the wild wilderness warrior way, burning furiously in its eyes.

The oolve was looking deep into Akinyemi’s eyes too, and what stared back at it was no less as potent as what was in its eyes; and it understood. Neither would give ground, neither would concede without battle, neither would back down.

The oolve took one step forward; Akinyemi did the same. An impasse of wills was reached ‘’They are of us! Soldier creatures and warriors of this world they are. They are protecting, is all, Major Maan.’’ whispered Akinyemi.

Maan assessed what he was seeing, and with Akinyemi’s revelation in mind he ordered ‘’Scabbard your swords!’’

They did, and all the oolves eyes turned his way. With unblinking eyes, Maan stared back at them. Esther glanced down at her kill; she then knelt by its side and put her hand gently across its huge snout. ‘’A male it is, and such a magnificent creature too, so bold and courageous.’’ she said in an unhappy voice. When she glanced up, her sad eyes turned towards the oolve pack. Their eyes flicked to hers, and a lesser creature came her way.

‘’A female.’’ observed Lycopis. It came across warily, stopped, and sniffed the muzzle of the dead oolve, and then it looked deep into Esther’s eyes, raised its head to the vertical, and let out a long mournful howl. The whole oolve pack voiced in unison. Far away now to the west, from the direction of where they were told Homebuilding stood, came back an echoed many voiced oolve howl.

‘‘What went on there, Jane?’’

‘’I am not sure James, but I think an oolve has been killed by your soldiers. That lonesome howl was mournful; the same we have heard before from them when one of them dies.’’

The lead oolve came across and stood before Maan. Maan instinctively raised his hand, palm down. The oolve raised its snout and touched Maan’s palm, and then considered Akinyemi’s eyes once more.

Akinyemi, saddened that one of its loyal pack was dead, nodded in sympathy. It was understood, and the big male oolve sprinted away towards Homebuilding with his pack close behind him. All that is, except the lone female oolve that had now laid herself across the dead male oolve.

Jane pointed and said ‘’See, the investigating pack comes back.’’

The whole pack then converged, from Homebuilding and the returning pack, and headed their way. The lead oolve came forward to inspect James; James touched his sword; his guards came to his side swords drawn. Jane stared at it, and it stared back. The lead oolves stance collapsed; its head dropped; snout went to the ground, its leg's croupade, and the hair on its back flattened.

‘’All is well!’’ declared Jane. ‘’Welcome to our world, our pack James, and our symbiosis with these creatures. It senses your standing, and your status, and will be as loyal and protective of you as your guards will be, in fact, the whole of its kind here with us will follow suit.’’

When James looked to the big oolve, its eyes flicked to his. ‘’Incredible Jane, I feel humbled in its presence.’’

‘’It knows you are a stranger here, and your entourage, given leave to be here by us. However, if I or we attacked you, these oolves will attack with us. That big bull you saw attacking your invading army is with us by our leave too; these oolves will see it off, and it’s kind, if they pose a danger or be a nuisance to us all.’’

‘’All quite marvellous Jane, quite marvellous!’’

‘’Now King James of Petra3, what exactly is going on? Who is it that runs my world and its lands without my permissions?’’

‘’Pep and Akshai’s young son, Kings Young Major Maan, who leads his twenty captains. With them is Kings Young Captain Esther, his aide-de-camp. This Homeworld expedition is their rite of passage; they are invading aliens on an alien world here, a parody of their first footing on Earth1.’’

‘’On Earth1?!’’

‘’Yes, Maan will lead the first attack on Earth1 in less than ten years. This Homeworld expedition is his ‘cutting of the teeth’, his captains too. Great and unknown dangers await them here, an imitation it will be of their first footing on Earth1.’’

‘‘Yes, it will try them hard James!’’

‘’To my reckoning, our enemies will be nearly prepared to send forth a formidable fighting force to find us and root us out by then, and by destroying their overconfidence, we will have twenty more years of peace after we withdraw. We need that time dear Jane to double, maybe triple the numbers of our warriors and soldiers.’’

‘’For a conquering attack, James?’’

‘’Yes, dear Jane. We cannot set out our people’s future to just be on the defensive, just to ward off attacks every generation or so. We must stop it all, kill dead this business empire, and through its acumen, the destruction of all the natural emotions in humanity.’’

‘’I understand James. If we had prior knowledge of this, we would have inadvertently negated the real dangers out there for them by our lenient countenance and mien at the sight of them, and this would have been picked up by all the other creatures we share Homeworld with. Our unexpected shock at seeing them was picked up by the oolves and they naturally went into attack. This now has set a precedent on this world, but the mutual respect shown to the other by both packs might also be a precedent too. Your soldiers will have to fight off attacks along the way, but maybe it will not be from everything that wants to have a go at them. All the same, they will be challenged James, and hard; I promise you that!’’

‘’Yes, was my hope. It will be a harsh challenge, but no easier than on Earth1. If they get through this, they will be ready for anything!’’

‘’See Maan, the trees, they are dense farther in.’’

‘’Thanks, Es. Sage please, Akinyemi?’’

‘’To hesitate is a disadvantage to us, and an advantage to any would-be threats. Press on I say, before strategies can be put into motion.’’

‘’Pack closer, swords and parry shield ready.’’ ordered Maan.

As they entered the forest, they bunched, two abreast within the stride.

‘’Look, a path, an animal trail we were lectured on. It heads our way to our gain. Stay close!’’ ordered Maan.

In happy respect, Lycopis smiled. Maan was leading totally, and furthermore, he glanced behind himself every fifty yards or so, checking that his captains were all right. He was immediately in tune with his responsibilities and had a regard for his captains. Maan had upped his pace, taking Akinyemi’s advice into consideration, to clear through quickly any possible chance of being stalked.

They ran on, the path meandered, but generally eastwards. They started to meet natural intersections, some trailed off wider than the one they were on. At one bend an intersection headed northwards, Maan took it and sprinted a mile until another intersection that aimed eastwards came into view. Turning down it, he then dropped his pace once more to a fast lope. ‘’We are being followed!’’ Maan explained ‘’I saw something behind us a few miles back, a dark shadow, but it had four legs.’’

‘’Ambush it now Major?’’ was asked from the captains ranks.

‘’Akinyemi?’’ asked Maan.

‘’One chasing us means it is not getting an attack group together. Scare it off and that is what it will do.’’ Akinyemi reasoned.

‘’Night is but two hours away, a fire will be our ally. Run on soldiers.’’ ordered Maan.

Eventually, as the last of the sun shone over the trees, the forest fell away into a steep valley and a wide river going north to south came into view. A bend under a rock outcrop left a small island nearly abutting the cliff. Maan dived in the water and swam across to it. ‘’We camp here, gather woods for a fire, lookouts down and up river and here to the other bank.’’

Maan sat with his back against a large tree trunk that had been stranded there a decade ago. Esther sat next to him. ‘’Forty miles east, Maan, to my reckoning.’’

Pleased with that, he figured ‘’It was a good clear path we found today wasn’t it, firm but not hard?’’

‘’An easy lope, yes, but not a straight one. Fifty miles at least for our nine-hour run maybe. I feel good Maan!’’ Esther confessed.

‘’Me too Es!’’ confirmed Maan. The fire was quick to start and soon water for tea and a large kettle for their stew were upon it, his captains were well-practiced in setting up camp. There were two opposing moons around Homeworld, their orbits meant they could not be seen, but the darkest sky to the east and west suddenly brightened into a ghostly indigo blue.

Contented and resting after their meal, they chatted over the day’s events as the wood smoke wafted around them. The night was chill and the campfire was warm. Maan extended his hands towards the fire and relaxed. Suddenly, he felt as if there was somebody else there by his side ‘’Welcome you are.’’ he whispered.

‘’What Maan?’’ asked Esther.

‘’Sorry..., I doze a little I think, a small dream flipped through my head.’’

‘’Hush!’’ came from the lookout eyeing the opposite riverbank.

Every captain there had swords in hand, they moved instantly and quietly to surround Maan, protecting their major. Maan stepped through them and forward to the lookout and asked quietly ‘’What is it?’’

‘’It is your four-legged dark shadow, Major.’’ the lookout told him.

As Maan peered deep into the darkness, two reflections of the campfire flickered back. ‘’Its eyes shine, see!’’

The night air was broken by a lonely mournful howl.

Esther stepped forward and said quietly ‘’It is that female oolve.’’

‘’Out for revenge!’’ was saged by one of the captains.

‘’No!’’ said Maan. ‘’Revenge has no restraint; it would have attacked without regard for its own safety. It has deliberately and discreetly followed us, but for what purpose?’’

Another lonely mournful howl came, and Esther sensed its distress and said ‘’It is alone and afraid.’’ and her heart went out for it. Down on her knees she looked out into the darkness.

A gentle splash was heard, and the noises of the creature swimming towards them came to their ears. Everybody stood ready, swords pointing as the creature reached the shore. Esther was still on her knees as the bedraggled creature left the water. Its eyes locked onto Esther’s; by the campfire light, she saw they were empty. Reaching out with her arms, the creature came to her. It sat between her knees resting its head on her shoulder; she embraced its neck with her arms. Short quiet muffled barks came from it. ‘’It is crying!’’ she said incredulously. ‘’What strange bonding is this to me then?’’

Lycopis reasoned ‘’One of you was going to die by the other when they attacked. By chance, you had your sword, where it had its teeth. It was an equal and fair fight Esther. Benign we were, no threat to them or to whom they protected, they saw. Either of your deaths would have been meaningless, and mourned Esther, by them if you had died. It senses your sorrow for the one you defeated to save your own life, but holds no bitterness against you. This empathy is now what bonds you, as both of you grieve over the pointless passing of this oolve.’’

As the creature nestled closer to Esther, she sobbed softly too.

‘’Scabbard your swords.’’ Maan ordered quietly.

They all moved away leaving Esther and the creature alone. Maan looked across from time to time from his resting spot and saw the kinship between them. A little later Esther stood and came across with the oolve at her feet towards Maan. Maan stood, and the oolve came before him, its stance collapsed; its head dropped; snout went to the ground, its leg's croupade. Maan nodded and the oolves eyes flicked to his as it stood, then to Lycopis and then to Akinyemi.

‘’Its fire has reignited in its eyes.’’ observed Akinyemi.

The oolve went off and did a tour of the campsite, searching the dark shadows under the cliff, and visited each lookout. It sniffed the air a few times at each spot then came back to lie next to Esther.

Queen Jane of Homeworld and her guest King James of the planet Petra3 walked side by side towards Homebuilding. It, itself, was a raised cavern, vegetated, and treed, so it blended in perfectly with the countryside. From its highest point, atop of a high flagpole flew Homeworld’s magnificent and well-earned war colours. In one corner was a portrait head of the beast that had attacked Maan’s group. As they walked, each side of them, bowing low, were Jane’s peoples, some James recognised as those from the thousand that had chosen to offer their allegiances to Jane when she returned from those terrible wars on Petra3. Behind James was his entourage, his Lord Garn and Lady Lucy led, followed by Lord Jason and Lady Sara. Behind them were Jane’s Lord and Lady, Ayo and Itagaki, who were so glad to be back home after their visit to Petra3. Behind them came King James wife, Queen Consort Reffeel, and their daughter, Princess Heidi.

There were very few cheers for King James, tempered all people were, with the great and deep respect they held in their hearts for him. This quiet reverence was all James saw and felt, and once more that day, he felt humbled to his toes.

Two shuttles blasted away, side by side on the landing strip. James looked that way and chuckled, then asked ‘’They race, but who is driving?’’

One of his guard informed him ‘’Bryce, Your Majesty, for The Pepromene, and Jock for The Amaterasu, sire. They have exchanged destinations for better cargo management.’’

They watched as both space craft left the surface of Homeworld, both sat back on their engines, then both blasted up and away at full power towards their respective light speed spaceships. It was neck and neck for the first few miles then one corkscrewed and shot away as if it had been just coasting before.

‘’Bryce…!’’ exclaimed James ‘’It has got to be.’’

‘’Jock will be madder than anything!’’ laughed out Jane. ‘’In truth, it was a bit unfair really, as Bryce’s shuttle is using the fuel Akshai developed and made when he was here on this planet. By the way, is Akshai coming too James, with Pep?’’

‘’Walking Pep will landfall on the next shuttle. However, Akshai will not be here in his entirety. His walking self, lectures and teaches science back on Petra3, and expert combat training techniques he has learned and honed for the ten thousand years that he has travelled. A small part of walking Pep is with him though, and some of him too is aboard with Pep the ship, The Pepromene.’’

As they ambled towards Homebuilding, a young girl ran forward with a delicate red flower and presented it to James. ‘’My name is Sophie, King James, I remember little now of my old life on Petra3, my home planet, after my stay on that awful planet Thergo under Captain Graith Furglor’s torture regime. But I do not want to let you down though, and I will come back with you when you go if you ask this of me.’’

‘’Your heart will tell you where your home is, dear loyal Sophie. Where is it, tell me?’’

‘’Here King James, it is all I remember now.’’

‘’Then sobeit, Sophie, here is your home world, then. We will miss you back on Petra3 though, but our hearts will be glad for you, so be all right with this.’’

‘’Thank you, King James. May I visit Princess Heidi later, when she is not very busy please?’’

‘’Go back and walk by her side now dear Sophie, for she has longed to see you as you have longed to see her.’’

Sophie bowed low and ran back behind them.

‘’She bides well now, Queen Jane?’’

‘’As can be expected, James. Sophie spends much of her time with Kirk and John in the kitchen gardens. She has found a penchant for beneficial plants; we know now that they belong to the herb family. Some are of virtue to health, some taste nice and taint foods with their flavour. One, Sophie tried, and it lifted her depressions when they come. She makes teas of this herb that she shares with John and Kirk. Another, she noticed, the bull Hornhead and his harem avoided, in passing by us, on their forage route. Sophie planted a line of them, and these animals skirted along this line, keeping them farther away for safety reasons while our children play. A kitchen lad has taken a shine to her too, and I believe her heart is warming to him. Such as she bides James, mending still.’’

‘’A love, a home and a purpose, Jane, is all a heart really relishes in life. Tell me of John and Kirk though; their horrific story revolts my heart to the same intensity as the raping of Zookie and the brutalisation of Duncan. Those dear four’s experiences in the hands of our enemies alone would have been enough to go to war for!’’

‘’Sadly, they have lived in their own little world James. However, though, hearteningly, recently, I am beginning to feel that they are glad to still be alive, rather than just tolerating it, thanks to Sophie befriending them. Being so young and vulnerable in their eyes, and she has been hurt as they, two fathers she has now, such is the type of love that is beginning to grow between them.’’

James eyes began to tear up; Jane turned to him and hugged him.

As he came into orbit, Jock snorted in mock envy ‘’How does he do that?!’’ as he saw Bryce’s shuttle already latched onto The Pepromene, Lord Jason’s, and Lady Sara’s ship. Falling into his classic dream like thinking mode, he reasoned it through. ‘’Perhaps me and Lord Ayo’s engineer Claramond can fix this shuttle up to burn the same fuel?’’ he decided.

After latching on to Lord Ayo and Lady Itagaki’s ship, The Amaterasu, he entered its hold. They had taken with them for the flight from Petra3 to Homeworld, a dozen warriors and a dozen soldiers to heave the cargo about. Walking Pep, together with Elie and Gus who were Jock’s wife and son, were on The Pepromene, with Zhen, Bryce’s wife.

Jock eyed the cargo; much of it was duplicates of the history files found in the catacombs under the genetic manipulation laboratories facility hidden on the planet Thergo. Captain Graith Furglor’s insane desire to rule humankind, and possess everything, ironically safeguarded this precious cache for them. It covered the last ten thousand years and beyond, when the ruling business leaders, the Aristocracy at that time, and their cronies, the Elite, set about using pure business acumen to manage the survival of the human race after the genetic virus wars had killed off the vast majority of the human race as a species.

As of Uptowner stock, Jock, for the most part, was blind to the pain and anguish that the Plebs suffered; those that were the rejects from the scheme of things. The Plebs eventually formed their own society, and bred their own children, against the belief they could do so in the first place. They had chosen the precious metal ore mine as their sanctuary for this, hidden from all eyes and ears on Petra3. The precious metal ore mine was the key to every colonisation; every town was situated on, or near the mine that supported that society. Every one of the thousands of planets in the federation had but just one town. In charge of each town and planet were the Elite, who spent their time brown nosing the Aristocracy who resided on Earth1, the mother planet. Downtown was the Plebs part of the whole town, and it was their open face residency. This place was where the rejects ended up, but instead of the cruelty they were told awaited them, they found only kindness. This was King James’s roots, Reffeel his wife too, and their daughter Heidi who was born to them there.

Prone to reminisce, Jock pondered on whom he was, just a space dock owner and resident engineer, born and bred for the work he was, to take over from his dead father who he would never know. That was originally his own son’s fate too, but he had decided to side with the Pleb uprising, catalysed by Jason, a starship captain and an Uptowner himself, now a Lord in his own right amongst the peoples. Meeting Elie then, another Downtowner that came into his life, who bore his son Gus.

With fondness and great respect, he looked to the warriors, all Downtowners. Then to the soldiers, all Uptowner’s, Lord Garn’s fighters, who lived through the awakening with Garn and supported his fight against the absolute oppression the business acumen philosophies caused that had dominated all human life since the virus wars.

The dust had settled now though, after those terrible battles on Petra3. Two worlds only in freedom lived, Petra3 and this hidden world of Homeworld. The rest of the alliance, rule by Earth1, would be sending a mighty force to eradicate everything of them soon enough. This was not a speculation but an immutable truth. James knew this, now the elected King of their peoples on Petra3, and carried on, using his war strategist mentality that had won them the war, to fathom the future fight. Earth1 was his target now, the very heart of their enemy’s empire.

What looked back at Jock was the same fondness and great respect he felt for them. Jock was considered a Master Fighter; a large spanner from his dock tool stock was his weapon, which had mutated into steel clubs that the enemy did not like at all. This was mainly thanks to Bryce, who on taking up the spanner as his weapon of choice too, and being of diminutive stature, went for the shins of whoever stood before him. Bryce at four foot nothing tall found them handy and readily available down there, and being an unusual target where it was all sword-fighting techniques, the shin was unguarded and no real defence of them was practiced. Such was his success against impossible odds that myths and legends abounded about him, that embarrassed him greatly. It was true the enemy feared him above all other fighters, many running away at the sight of him. ‘The Bloke with the Spanner’ he became known as. Oft quoted to one another in hushed whispers amongst the kids he was training up on the use of this weapon, was ‘…his name alone would turn the hearts of our enemy’s ice cold with fear’. Kids adore heroes, and Bryce certainly was one, well-earned was that accolade, and him being surrounded by the myths and legends and all, he was a very special one in their young eyes. However, amongst fighting peers, those that had stood unwavering shoulder to shoulder in the great wars on Petra3, Bryce and Jock shared equal esteem in the use of this unusual weapon. Such was the success of it, it became a recognised and practiced weapon in the armoury the fighters used and wielded under King James and his Lords.

They were there now though, in orbit around Homeworld. A year had gone by since Ayo and Itagaki ferried their new Queen back to their planet. Since that time, both separate societies had grown and settled down. A happiness and life’s joys, that was devoid from their previous existences due to the business acumen that had previously controlled their lives, was now unrestrained and rampant on both worlds. Excitement flowed through the veins of everybody on the planet. It was smiles always, and an eagerness to please one another. Jock nodded and smiled at the faces smiling at him. ‘’Let us get this done so we can join the parties at their start peoples.’’ he laughed out. Soon cases and cases of documents were being handled into the shuttles hold.

Pep chuckled as Bryce ran on The Pepromene, and headed straight for the bridge window, saying ‘’Jock will not like that at all, I left him in a burn off haze, staring at my spiralling backside!’’

They all gathered around him as Jock, seconds later, came into orbit. ‘’The fuel, right Bryce?’’ asked Pep.

‘’Yeah! The atmosphere is a little thicker here on Homeworld, slowing Jock a little, that, with a little bit of showing off by me corkscrewing in the thinner stuff using the thrusters, will have Jock seething. I want to see his face if I can…, yes, there, look, as black as the night!’’

They all chuckled at Jock’s deep frown and inverted smile as he passed heading for The Amaterasu.

‘’He will work it out soon enough.’’ Elie, Jock’s wife, said.

‘’I am ashamed of you Bryce, making Jock feel foolish so.’’ chuckled out Zhen.

‘’Well, he started it sweetheart, honest. I was on the take-off strip proper and he was standing off, when he blew a raspberry at me from his cockpit and powered away. Well, I could not let that go, could I, hey?!’’

The three girls chuckled at the stupidity that make men rise to such silly challenges.

‘’Come on let us get the ‘Nectar Hooch’ on board for the parties.’’ suggested Pep.

The four of them loaded up the barrels of hooch that was deemed a rival for the ‘Green Stuff’ brewed on Homeworld. Both these intoxicating liquors had been seriously mooted by the engineers as an emergency fuel for the shuttle, no less!

The two shuttles landed within ten minutes of each other. All hands, as they landed, turned to, to load the barrels and documents onto trollies to be taken to Homebuilding. Bryce and Jock hauled away a loaded trolley while Zhen and Elie, who had Gus in hand, chatted away, unconcerned over their struggling men. Pep got behind one of equal weight herself and overtook them.

Jock said ‘’Will you look at that Bryce, who would know just by looking at Pep that she had twice at least our combined strength?!’’

‘’It is me who feels daft now, Jock.’’

The six of them got together to enter the great hall of Homebuilding. Now excavated and extended to nearly twice its original size, to cater for the growing population on Homeworld, and recently, to cater for King James and his entourage.

At the high table, the regal gathering took place. Next to Jane was her husband, King Regent Qasim, of Homeworld, the most modest, unpretentious, and unassuming person on that planet. Without preamble, Jane came forward and announced ‘’Too exhilarating this is and too long would have been the greetings and speeches of visit. As your Queen, the command given this minute, is to party. Raise the roof of Homebuilding in welcome to King James, before you all fall to its floor!!! Later, in the days to come will speeches be given, listened better to, and heard clearer once the excitement wanes from this great meet and gathering. Drink with me now, dear peoples from both worlds, for I drink with you all!’’ with that she upended her mug of her famous Homeworld ‘Green Stuff’. Spluttering a little, she proclaimed ‘’Gracious, we are getting really good at brewing this stuff up!’’ With that, the place exploded in happy reunion.

Esther bolted out of her sleep, the oolve by her side awaking her, as it stood upright, growling into the darkness towards downriver. Shaking Maan awake, she whispered urgently ‘’Something cometh major?!’’

They peered into the darkness as the rest of the captains put sword to hands. ‘’A runner to the lookout.’’ ordered Maan. A captain sprinted off.

Not one sound was made until the captain came back. ‘’Nothing major, all is quiet, nothing has been seen or heard.’’

Maan looked to the oolve, it was resolute still, teeth bared, primed to fight.

‘’Sword up, parry shields ready, lookouts back, defence circle around the fire.’’ Maan ordered.

Within the minute, all were ready and prepared.

The oolve bristled, its growling became deeper, and menacing it was, sending a shiver through all the soldiers there.

The campfire was their ally indeed, reflecting in the eyes of a creature. The silhouetted head they were in was three times the size of the oolves.

Esther’s oolve sprinted away from the attack, to disappear in the darkness behind them. Swords flashed of flame from the campfire as the beast made its attack.

One captain took the charge head on, her blood sprayed out over the rest of them as the lifeless rag doll she was now, was flung to one side. Standing as tall as all who stood against it, and three times in length as they were high, it turned within its length. However, it was so fast, that any sword swing to ward it off still dwelt as a reflex action in the minds of the astonished soldiers. As it sprang, Esther’s oolve sank its teeth into its hindquarters, it was the soft tender tissue under its flaying tail through which the oolves ripping fangs clamped shut together. The excruciating pain the creature felt was heard as a scream that shook the senses of the soldiers. Its body twisted around in a U shape to the source of the agonising pain, as Esther’s sword swung, cutting deep between the massive upper and lower jaw. Its lower jaw hung useless as it directed its attention back to Esther. Six swords immediately plunged to their hilts into its other side; three more came chopping down along its spine. The oolve tore back, its jaws full of soft flesh. The creature screamed while Maan drove his sword deep down into its open throat. The creatures head lashed from side to side as it choked, but it could not get rid of the sword. The oolve dived up and clamped its jaws over its windpipe, the neck, and head of the beast flayed around to dislodge the oolve, but to no avail as withdrawn swords were thrust back in. It fell on its side still thrashing around. Akinyemi chopped his sword above where the oolves jaw was clamped, and they were all again sprayed with blood. A last desperate struggle sent the soldiers scattering, leaving the oolve conjoined with the beast. It was Esther that delivered the fatal strike with her sword, plunged deep into the chest of the creature. The beast shuddered as the last of its strength faded. The oolve still clung on, it was not until the lifeless twitching of the body subsided did the oolve finally relent, and let go.

It stood panting, but unhurt, and started to rub the thick wet blood on its fur from the beast on Esther’s legs. Akinyemi and Lycopis stood staring at it, Akinyemi advised ‘’We must do the same major; this act has no rational explanation other than to broadcast on the wind this dead creature blood smell, me thinks its kind will pick this up as a danger signal to them.’’

‘’Your thoughts Lycopis?’’ asked Maan.

‘’I see no other reason; this oolve will certainly be no fool on its own planet. Why else?’’ In a tongue-in-cheek chuckle she suggested ‘’Other than, to advertise to them a tasty snack awaits upwind maybe?’’

‘’Yes, do it, all of us.’’ he ordered.

Soon they stood around the fire and looked to each other. The oolve inspected them, sniffing them, going from one to the other, any thin patches in the blood paint, it reapplied a layer from its own coat.

They then turned their attention to their fallen soldier. Her throat was torn out, but the flesh had not been bitten away. Folding back the flesh, Maan took from his neck his kerchief, which he then tied as a bandage around the wound, understanding now the sorrow that his soldiers already knew about, and carried still in their hearts, for their fallen friends on Petra3.

Curt, more to hide his emotions, than to give sensitive orders, he ordered ‘’We bury her here, deep into the Homeworld soil of the friends of our peoples. Let her rest in peace with her nemesis slain and rotting nearby. Let now this burial place be known as Arimina’s Island, brave Arimina’s last resting place. Forever will her name be voiced then, never to be forgotten.’’ Maan paused to stem his sobs of shock that was fast catching up with him. Slurring his speech a little, he suggested quietly ‘’Esther, your bonded oolve must now be acknowledged, a name now for its own I say, so that it can be known to us, and be one of us.’’

Looking to Lycopis for help, she voiced with passion ‘’Arimina I say, one of us once more! Let her name run courageously with us, for she gave all, as was her way, as was this oolves way.’’

The blood went from Maan’s face and he staggered. Glancing at the gory mess, and then at Arimina’s body, he feinted and fell to the floor.

Claramond, Jock, and King Regent Qasim were deep in debate on how to convert The Pepromene’s shuttle to use the special fuel being made on Homeworld. Three dedicated engineers were doing what they loved the most, the solving of impossible problems. It looked odd the three of them huddled around a table totally engrossed in developing a usable equation, while the reverie exploded around them. ‘’Is there any discernible expansion when the fuel solidifies from its gel form, Claramond?’’ asked Jock.

‘’No Jock. I think it is just a realignment of its molecules, so there is no mass expansion. Heat wise, it warms slightly, but that is just frictional rather than a chemical catalytic reaction.’’

‘’What about mixing on board, then?’’ Qasim suggested. ‘’Could we get small tanks fitted for the three fuels that make it up, auger or extrude the stuff straight into the burn tubes? We can then apply the spark energy to just the surface of what solidifies as it is exposed, to fire it off?’’

Jock and Claramond agreed it was an exciting proposal. But Claramond reasoned on, saying ‘’There is a hundred-fold expansion when it gels from the dense and heavy three fuels that make it up, and as I have mentioned, none from the gel to solid form though. I cannot see why we cannot; after all, Lord Ayo’s shuttle is still rigged to do so when it long hauled between the planets. Its take-off fuel was in the main burn tube in the classic solidified state, right? Akshai, when he owned Ayo’s shuttle, used to mix his own further concoctions then, depending on how fast he needed to get where he was going. However, it was not done through auger or extruding. What was done was the three fuels were first pumped as a liquid into the main burn tube where it resolidified. This was done time after time automatically after Akshai block cryo’ed for his journey. As his body was held near to absolute zero, he could afford a continuous explosive thrust, and I mean an extremely volatile shove that may have gone on for years on end. Listen chaps, why did not Akshai consider this method we are discussing now, after all, it seems reasonable enough?’’

‘’Perhaps there was nowhere to go with it, I mean it all works so well as it is.’’ suggested Jock.

Claramond continued ‘’I think your right Jock. Research and development sometimes lead to the same end, a waste of time. Akshai’s fuel system delivery, and the fuel itself, cannot be bettered than the way it is. Finding another way to do the same thing is pointless, albeit we might congratulate ourselves that it was a new idea and approach to the same problem. Therefore, what do you think, leave alone the auger or extruding method?’’

‘’I think it still has merit in our case.’’ reasoned Jock. ‘’We need to convert rather than copy though, otherwise all we will end up doing is building another of Akshai’s shuttles from scratch, and where are the resources for that coming from?’’

Qasim reminded him ‘’Ironically this was the doctrine the Aristocracy use for their ‘Fit for Purpose’ list for all the worlds, so everybody’s work was supported by the same resource and tooling, power tools and supporting machinery. Everything is identical on all the colonized worlds.’’

‘’Perhaps in this case that approach sounds true. In their madness, there was some sort of perceptive reasoning.’’

‘’I do not think so Jock!’’ laughed out Qasim. ‘’Earth1 is the manufacturing base for all the worlds, and most of the resources, like wood in particular. One of the lesser reasons was to monopolise all businesses on Earth1, thus securing and guaranteeing the obscene profits they will get from such a regime. The major reason of course was for power and control. Research and development on any world would have been a threat to all that. If they knew we were even debating what we are, an instant death sentence notice would be slammed down against us.’’

‘’Wot…! Another one?!’’ exclaimed Jock wide-eyed in horror.

The three men’s heads fell back in raucous belly guffaws, so loud it bored into the noises from the whole party.

Across the fire that he was sat crossed legged by, Maan looked at the apparitions of himself prostrate in the arms of Esther. ‘’Why is my face so very pale, and why is there a great concern on Esther’s face?’’ he mused. When he extended his hands to catch the warmth from of fire, a voice said ‘’Thank you for your welcome Maan.’’

Sat at his side, there was a very old wrinkled red-skinned man there. As his hands extended too, to catch the heat of the wood fire, a grateful smile came onto his face. ‘’One of life’s pleasures it is, a fire on a chill night Maan, thank you.’’

‘’You are most welcome old man.’’ Maan whispered kindly.

‘’You dwell in shame, you think, that your mind was not strong enough to buffer out the events that has just unfolded?’’ asked the old man.

‘’I do old man; see me there, in dear Esther’s arms, unable to bear the impact of dear Arimina’s death. Arimina she followed me, as do all here, and her reward for such loyalty was her life extinguished far too soon.’’

‘’Look, Maan, at your captains, tell me what you see?’’

Of the vague apparitions, six female soldiers were tenderly tending Arimina’s body, the three others and the eight males were scooping soil away from a growing grave hole near and to the centre of the cliff face. ‘’Grief and compassion old man, is what I see.’’

‘’That is all there is dear Maan. There is no resentment over this tragic loss aimed at you.’’

With that, Akinyemi and Lycopis came across to kneel next to Esther. Maan watched as Lycopis’s hand caressed his cheek. Akinyemi reached forward and gently grasped his shoulder. Esther smiled at them; her face still full of love for whom she held.

‘’Tell me what you see there?’’ asked the old man.

Softly, Maan sobbed out ‘’I have no words to say old man.’’

‘’Realise, Maan, all your captains that follow you have leave to explore their grief. You do not; no such luxury is afforded to you, as their major. Stalwart and strong you are in their eyes, leading them through three determined attacks from outraged animals. One fell, where all of you would have been killed this last time, if it were not for your reasoned interpretation of events. Few would step forward willingly to stand in your shoes, Maan, few could confidently volunteer anyway. Akinyemi and Lycopis forsook their genetic right to a life dedicated to the warrior way, to adopt the soldier’s way, just to be by your side. No greater sacrifice of personal leanings has been portrayed by anybody on both free worlds. They honour you Maan, but scare is in their minds of who will rouse from dear Esther’s loving embrace. The Maan they know and respect, or another, tainted and corrupted by shame, of fear and dread too, of knowing for the first time what the pain of death really is.’’

‘’How do we know who we really are then old man?’’

‘’We are many people, to complicate reasoning who. We must explore who we think we are, who others think we are, who we really are, and who we should be. This last persona is your only real dilemma, Maan. Realising what it signifies, what is going on before your very eyes right this second, is the answer to your last question, Maan.’’

‘’Absolute trust, old man, is what I see and feel.’’

‘’Fools, are they then Maan, these gallant and courageous Gauntlet Runners, and two of the greatest of warriors that roamed the wars?’’

‘’No!’’

‘’There is one more persona left you need to explore, and that is, who ‘they’ know you really are.’’

‘’Who then of these people am I, that will rouse in dear Ether’s arms, old man?’’

‘’The fact of death is as certain as the fact of life, Maan, you must realise this. Dear Arimina’s dead body lay there not because you led her to her death, as it was already here, waiting, stalking you all since you first set foot on this planet, not just her. It got to her, and tried very hard to get to the rest of you. Think now Maan, tell me what you have learned from this to make you the stronger?’’

‘’It was not a pointless death old man as none saw this coming, none could, and one of us died in this learning, so a lesson has been learnt. Complacency that we had gotten this far is now gone from my mind. Adversity is all there is, all there will be, I know now.’’

‘’Indeed, adversity is all there is. Has this boy by my side worth to step forward to meet it?’’

‘’Yes he does Qaletaqa, for I know you now, as I know myself.’’

‘’I know so too Maan. No time passes at this time, so we can be at ease in this safe place. Tell me of Esther, Maan, you see her love for you but you have yet to fully see your love for her.’’

‘’We wait for each other Qaletaqa.’’

‘’No, she but waits for you Maan.’’

Maan looked across at Esther, cheek to cheek with him, rocking him gently in her arms.

‘’We are so young...!’’

With great sadness in his voice, Qaletaqa told him ‘’Alas, as I see you now, so little time is left for you on this waking world dear Maan, how long I do not know. Your future is a fragmented obscurity to me, like a mist lost in the morning’s fog. However, I do know a powerful love for you is waiting to be born, an awesome potent love of such magnitude it is beyond my comprehension. The most fearsome of thunderstorms, anviled thunderheads casting forth their lightning forks continuously to blast asunder where they meet earth, and their mind-numbing detonations they make, would pale into insignificance to nothing, in comparison.’’ With a deeply troubled mind, he finished ‘’Nothing has been an unknown to me before until now, and I cannot, no matter how hard I try, pierce that mysterious blanket to see. Therefore, I sage you now to grab at that love and life you have, before you are overwhelmed.’’

‘’I am not afraid Qaletaqa, being alive, or of my inevitable death that stalks me.’’

‘’I followed your future footsteps Maan, clear they were to me. Alas, they suddenly stopped, barred by a wall of blackness. I extended my hand and it entered that blackness, I felt foreboding and pain, a dream state, a nightmarish vision of a long dark journey entered my mind that you must make. In truth, it frightened me, as I could not see its ending. This dear Maan is why I sought and found you. Put aside now your pubertal traits, I beg you, live and know what love is really all about before this tide of the unknown swallows you whole.’’

The repressed longing for Esther flooded through Maan as he looked at her. As the desire and need for her nearly overwhelmed him, he trembled a little.

‘’Wake from your dream Maan, then stand forth, now into manhood.’’

From the regal table, the three lords looked down upon the party. Jason said under his breath ‘’The lucky sods down there, look at them, enjoying themselves.’’

‘’Your fault Jase, you started the whole thing off, remember?’’ teased Ayo.

‘’I would have still been the junior administrator in Waldo’s hotel right now if it was not for you Jase, at least there was some reverie there, instead of looking down with you now in envy, as you are.’’ scolded Garn.

Their Lady’s, Sara, Itagaki and Lucy, were given leave by Queen Jane and King James to mingle. They had totally disappeared amongst the revellers, after changing into the common airy and cool recreational clothes that all wore on Homeworld when not working or on duty. There was a law there that any wearing them were left alone, and nobody must approach you. Should you need others around you, you just invited yourself into the group. That is what they had done. Somewhere on a table at the back of the great hall, they upended their second mug of the Green Stuff. ‘’Phew, that was good!’’ exclaimed Itagaki.

As the fiery liquor bit back at her, Lucy spluttered ‘’Ish ish ery ice!’’ she slurred out innocently.

Sara giggled and espied Pep coming towards them. Pep came up and scolded Sara with ‘’Your daughter is within you Sar, best not cut her teeth on that stuff too early you think?! Drink this stuff instead.’’ and then put three bottles of her very own special brew on the table.

‘’Finally, a real girls drink, thanks Pep. Elie said about it!’’ exclaimed Sara.

‘’Elie will be over in a while, me too. So, enjoy this stuff, it will blow the top off your head but degrade quickly enough not to harm your baby.’’

Sara looked to the regal table and giggled out ‘’Look at my Jase up there, he has one of his ‘trying to look happy’ smiles on his face.’’

‘’And poor Ayo too, and look at Garn, Luce, he searches for you.’’ giggled out Itagaki.

Lucy looked up as her beloved Garn’s eyes swept around, and through her as if she was not there, and then around the rest of the hall. ‘’Poor darling, I must go to him.’’

With a bit of wickedness Sara insisted ‘’One more drink before you go Luce, it is all right it is Pep’s concoction.’’

After it was swallowed, Lucy almost forgot who and where she was.

The evening dragged on into early night, the three ‘trying to be noble’, and sober lords, were at their wits end. King James and Queen Jane had been in serious conversation all through the dinner and they were still at it without any indication of finalising. Queen Consort Reffeel and King Regent Qasim, sat together the other side of the King and Queen, talking lightly, and happy chuckles came frequently from their direction.

Staring at his empty dinner plate once more, Jason was trying this time to match the bigger specks of food that was left, with his star charts. This time he had a fancy there was a familiarity between one area of the plate to Petra3 and her group, from Earth4 perspective. ‘’Well I’m jiggered!’’ he mumbled happily at his success. The exercise was to tame the boredom he felt.

‘’Jase, Jase…!’’ was whispered loudly at him, with a nudge of the elbow.

Startled, he turned and saw that King James was looking at them, he was saying ‘’…I know the three of you have a great deal to talk about and being up here stifles you. So, find a small side room so you can get your heads down without any interruptions. Queen Jane has said the third room on your left should be empty, try there first.’’

The three stood mumbling ‘’Your Majesty…’’ ‘’Will do...’’ ‘’Yes…’’ bowed low and marched off the dais.

‘’What do we have to talk about chaps?!’’ Ayo whispered.

Garn whispered back ‘’Darned if I know. What about you Jase?’’

‘’Dunno chaps, but we must be seen that we are about to.’’

They opened the door and saw Jock behind a round table shuffling his cards. One side of him was Bryce, the other Martin.

‘’What you think chaps, this will keep us out of the Kings eyes a while?’’ suggested Ayo.

In happy approval, Jason and Garn nodded, and palmed down Jock, Bryce, and Martin as they stood to bow.

‘’Deal Jock, we will be here for a while if you don’t mind?’’ Jason said with relish. Casting off their uniform jackets and rolling up their sleeves the three lords took their seats smiling blissfully.

Totally believing they had ducked out successfully on what King James had commanded them to do, the three lord’s persona’s crumbled away until it was forgotten who they really were. Totally at ease was how King James found them. They bolted upright and stared straight ahead of themselves, wide eyed in shock and shame. The wicked giggling of Jock, Martin, and Bryce that reached their ears brought their eyes around to the doorway. There stood James in common recreational clothes; under one arm, he had a case of the ‘Green Stuff’, under the other a case of the ‘Nectar Hooch’ from Petra3.

‘’King James has retired and is asleep chaps.’’ laughed out James, then asked ‘’Rules Jock?’’

‘’A hundred Earth1 gold coin free of any charge to join the game James. Lose it all and you get another hundred, but you must spend one day in the kitchens for it. If you recoup, you can buy back that forfeit.’’

‘’That’s interesting, then deal the cards Jock my good friend.’’

‘’You planned all this James!’’ accused Jason.

‘’A bloody poor war strategist I would be if I could not organise a simple game of cards and a piss-up for myself, don’t you think?’’ A knock came at the door ‘’My guest is here chaps.’’ said James, and in came Qasim, outfitted too in the recreational clothes.

Mugs were filled and the start of the game was toasted. The eight men, elbow to elbow, settled down for an ‘all-nighter’.

‘’Goodbye Qaletaqa.’’ whispered out Maan, as his eyes fluttered open.

‘’You dream dear Maan?’’ asked Esther kindly.

‘’A dream is such.’’ said Maan quietly still in his dream state. Then he came fully awake saying urgently ‘’We must break camp and go quickly!’’

‘’Rest awhile, it is but two hours until daybreak.’’

As Maan staggered to his feet he ordered to all ‘’Break camp, haste is needed, hear me!’’ As he ran to dead Arimina’s side, he was still unsteady. ‘’Help me, please!’’ Arimina was lifted into his arms, and he ordered as he made his way towards the grave ‘’Lay four large fires, one each on the corner of dear Arimina’s grave, quickly I say!’’ As he bent down, Arimina’s body was taken by Akinyemi and Lycopis. Arimina’s carry blanket was draped over her, and the filling in started immediately, Maan’s frantic scooping with his arms from the piles of soil sparked off the others into haste. With many hands it was domed over within a few minutes, and as the four fires flamed, he ordered ‘’To the river, wade in and let the current take us. Stay together, join arms in total silence!’’

The raft of soldiers, shoulders, and heads visible only, drifted in silence away from Arimina’s Island. The she oolve Arimina, forelegs over Esther’s shoulders, facing her, was very unhappy as the blood from the vanquished creature was being washed away.

Nearly two hours later, they were chilled to the bone. As the sun rose Maan caught the site of a high mountain on its own to the south, they were steadily heading its way. ‘’How far Es?’’ whispered Maan.

‘’Two land, but maybe four miles of river, Maan.’’

They drifted on for another half mile when a small stony beck from the mountain came into view. As it broke into the river Maan ordered ‘’Here, leave the water, do not disturb any dry stone, stay in the ankle-deep stuff.’’

Leading Arimina by her belt around her neck and pulled close to her, Esther followed on as silently as she could, coaxing the oolve forward. After twenty minutes, they stood at the base of the mountain. Maan ordered ‘’Lycopis, Akinyemi forward. Climb to the summit, cast your eyes towards Arimina’s Island, and stay until nightfall even if you do not see anything. Look quickly once in the morning. However, if you have a report of note immediately hasten to catch us up, do so too if you cannot see the Island from there. Take Arimina with you, she has senses honed on this world, which may be of aid to you. We run like the wild wind’s northwest from here, towards those white capped peaks…’’ he explained pointing ‘’…our trail even the blind pollenating tubes of Petra3 could not miss. Luck goes with the three of you.’’ With that, Maan sprinted away.

Letting Arimina go, Esther gave her a little shove towards the backs of Lycopis and Akinyemi as they powered up the first rise of the mountain. Arimina turned her head to look questionably into Esther’s eyes, Esther nodded, and it was understood, and Arimina powered away after them.

To be back at Maan’s side, Esther had a hard run to catch him up. As he led at a punishing pace, she saw he was stony-faced. Frequently, he glanced behind him, calling out encouragement to his captains to stay up with him, not letting up for one minute in the next hour. His captains were tiring, and when the pace slowed slightly, he fell back, bullying all forward, hastening them towards the white capped peaks.

Fear started to spread in the hearts of the captains. Esther was getting scared too; it was Maan’s unfathomable and unrelenting urgency to get as far away from Arimina’s Island as he possibly could. Despite herself, doubt of Maan’s worth started to germinate in her mind.

‘’Rally! Rally!’’ hissed out Maan angrily, as he ran up and down the line of his captains. They were continually