The Friendly Ambassador: The Beginning of the End

Chapter Four

  The Beginning of the End

  Prili Alther and members of the Edenite Ruling Council waited on the steps of the Senate building in the centre of Jutlam City. It was a bright sunny day and the square in front of the building was lined with soldiers in dress uniform standing to attention. The wide steps up to the Senate building had been covered in a red carpet and the whole square was filled with crowds gathered for the impending spectacle. Police kept the crowds back, standing guard over the temporary barriers used to restrain them, and putting them back in place as soon as they were pushed forward. It was a constant battle. Even the sky above the square was filled with air transports that hovered in one place or buzzed back and forth. Everyone wanted to see the aliens.

  The roads that led to the square were filled with more people. Traffic had been diverted and roads closed to enable the Keruh Host to reach the Senate building unopposed. And here, on the steps, Prili Alther and the Leader of the Council would welcome the Keruh Dominant.

  But for every person who filled the square or lined the roads, there were ten times more who couldn’t be there.

  When the news came that the Keruh Host had reached the city, each person fortunate enough to have a desk by a window that overlooked their route would stare out from time to time, eager to catch their first glimpse of the alien visitors. And those that were not near a window would still look up, anxious not to miss the first indication that the aliens had been sighted.

  Breda Albatus was no different. Not since the arrival of the Tun-Sho-Lok nearly ninety years before had there been such excitement. It was difficult to work, even her supervisor would pause by a window from time to time, craning her neck in her attempt to see farther down the road. Their anticipation was well rewarded.

  As soon as the Keruh Host appeared, everyone forgot completely about work and ran to the windows. Breda ran with the rest. She managed to get to a window first, squeezing in and pressing her hands against the glass as others crushed up behind and all around her. And what she saw filled her with a mixture of horror and fascination.

  It was like no other sight that Breda could have imagined. Yes, she had seen pictures of them on the news broadcasts, but that wasn’t the same. Seeing them for real, even at this distance, made her skin crawl.

  From the safety of the fifth floor window of her office building, Breda watched as the Keruh Warriors ran along the street below. They ran with a shambling gait, bobbing up and down rhythmically. It was also quite clear from above that they ran sideways, their large and bulkier left sides to the front, their smaller right sides trailing behind. It took an age for them pass, Warrior after Warrior, hundreds, thousands of them. Like a black tide, they ran along the wide city street that led to the square and the steps of the Senate building. And as they ran passed, all the people who had lined the streets and waited so eagerly for their arrival now fell back. The look of fear in their body language was clear even from five floors up. Many of them were already running into the buildings to get away.

  Such was Breda’s amazement at what she saw, that it was a few moments before she became aware of the babble of excited voices around her.

  “They look dreadful!” one woman said.

  “Did you see the Dominant?” a man asked.

  Breda’s supervisor turned away with a hand over her mouth. “I feel sick,” she mumbled, and ran away, her place at the window instantly taken by another.

  By now the leading Warriors had entered the square, and yet still more continued to run passed on the street below. The people in the square reacted to the sight of the aliens in the same way as those in the street had done: They all moved back, leaving the barriers placed there to restrain them suddenly isolated.

  Breda looked at the long column stretching all the way to the square. There were so many of them. Why so many? And where was the Dominant? Had there been anything different at the front of the column? Breda was sure that there wasn’t, just Warrior after Warrior, a double bladed axe in one hand and a rifle in the other. Each laid the rifle barrel across the raised shaft of the axe as they ran, as if they were in a charge, ready to fire at any instant.

  Her personal communicator began to warble. It broke into her thoughts. Oh, damn it! Why had she left it on her desk? She didn’t answer it. She didn’t want to give up her place at the window. The warbling continued. Finally she could resist it no longer. She turned away from the window, squeezed her way through the people around her, and rushed back to her desk.

  She picked up the communicator. “Can’t we talk about this later, Mum?” she said in annoyance.

  “Who are you calling ‘mum’?” Kiki replied.

  Breda’s annoyance was quickly deflated. “Oh, it’s you! I thought it was Mum. She called me before. I told you they would run for the hills!”

  “What did you say?”

  “I told her I wanted to stay with you. The usual argument happened: You’re too young, you’re not married yet, your father will be upset—you know the story!”

  “You didn’t fight, did you?”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it. Mum and me are always having crossed words. She’ll get over it. Anyway, what do you want?”

  “Did you see them?”

  “Of course I saw them!” she replied with annoyance again, being reminded of what she was missing. “I’d still be looking now if you hadn’t rang me!” She tried to move back to the window as she spoke, taking the communicator with her, but there was now no place for her at the window, and she couldn’t even reach it. “Oh, Kiki!” she exclaimed, stamping her foot.

  Kiki laughed at the other end of the line. “Don’t they look evil?”

  “I don’t know! I can’t see them anymore!” she snapped in irritation. “I suppose you can see everything?”

  “I can, actually. They’re in the square. The front lot are near the Senate. They seem to have stopped.”

  Breda stood on her tiptoes, trying to see over the heads and shoulders of those who blocked her view. It was no good. She went back and sat down at her desk in despair.

  “Why did you have to call me, Kiki? Now I’ve lost my place at the window and I can’t see anything! What’s happening?”

  “I told you, the front lot have stopped in the square.” His tone changed. “That’s funny.”

  “What is?”

  “Some of them seem to be going passed the square, just running straight on—oh, hang on—those in the square are moving again. Yes, I think—oh no—”

  The line began to buzz with what sounded like static. At the same time there was a gasp of amazement from those gathered at the windows. Breda looked up.

  Someone said, “Oh, no!” in almost an echo of Kiki’s last words, and then there was a bright flash followed almost instantly by a loud explosion that blew the windows in and swallowed up everyone who stood before them.

  Prili Alther fell down the steps of the Senate building. He was covered in dust and dirt and he was deafened by the noise of another explosion as the doors of the Senate building blew apart. He cowered on the ground with the burning debris raining down on him as all around the square people ran about in panic, screaming and dying.

  This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

  The Keruh Warriors at the front of the column had begun firing without warning. They shot at the air transports that flew above them, at the buildings that overlooked the square, at the Senate building itself, and at the members of the Ruling Council gathered on the steps to greet them. The Leader had died instantly, as had many others. The Senate building was now on fire, chunks of masonry blown from its walls as the Keruh Warriors fired their laser rifles almost constantly. Some of the Warriors rushed up the steps and through the archway, kicking aside the burning shards of the doors and shooting and hacking at anything in their path.

  Shock gave way to anger, and the soldiers who had expected to suffer nothing more than aching limbs from standing to attention quickly began to fight. A
battle developed in the square as the soldiers and the police fought to resist the Keruh, fighting with them at close quarters while the civilians fled. The sound of automatic weapons quickly joined the zing and whistle of the laser rifles, and the heavy calibre bullets peppered and punctured the black armour and carapaces of the Keruh, bursting them apart. But with both sides mixed so closely together in the square, it was the axe that was more effective than the gun. One by one the Edenites fell to the great axes of the Keruh, and the sound of automatic fire slowly faded. But it wasn’t all one sided. The Edenites were big, and many wrestled with the Keruh, wrenching the great axes from them and turning them against them. It was a valiant but vain effort. The Edenites were out in the open, grossly outnumbered, with no heavy armour to back them up, and despite their bravery and their anger, many were hacked to pieces. The same fate overcame the people who had waited so eagerly in the square. The Keruh killed everyone they caught, they showed no mercy for women or children, all were shot or hacked to death, the bodies smashed and mutilated.

  A stricken air transport dropped out of the sky and crashed in the middle of the square in a ball of flame. The flames engulfed those who fought as well as those who fled. It didn’t seem to matter.

  Prili Alther cried as the screams of panic and of the dying filled the square all around him. Another air transport fell in a plume of fire nearby. It hit the ground in a violent explosion that threw more debris into the air. Prili raised his arm to shield himself from the heat and the blast. Then the shadow of a great form fell over him, and he looked up in time to see the axe fall.

  Breda climbed to her feet in the office. She looked around in stunned amazement. Everything was wrecked and broken. There was dust and debris covering everything and everywhere there was broken glass. The windows had all blown in and part of the wall, floor and ceiling on that side of the office was gone. Light fittings and bits of broken ceiling tiles hung at crazy angles. But the damage to the building wasn’t the worst thing that Breda was faced with.

  Scattered over the floor were dozens of bodies. They were heaped up near to the gaping hole where the windows had once been. Most of them lay still, bits of glass embedded in them, and blood covering them. Breda couldn’t even recognise who they were anymore. Others moaned and moved feebly. One woman just sat among the dead, blood covering her chest and hands, screaming her head off. Somewhere, someone else cried.

  There was another explosion. Breda saw it this time as well as hearing it. It was the building across the street. Something shot at it and the wall blew out. Bits of masonry tumbled down, and among the broken debris Breda saw three people fall. The blast hit her like a warm wind, and the smell it brought to her suddenly woke her up.

  Breda ran. It was a sudden urgency that overcame all thoughts in her mind. She had to get out; she had to get away from this nightmare, unreal world. She ran, stumbling and staggering over the broken furniture like a frightened child. She headed for the stairwell, and when she got there she found others rushing down in wild panic, their faces filed with terror. Some of them were screaming and shouting in their haste and their hurry. She ran to join them, pushing and shoving, and thinking only of escape as she ran down the stairs with the rest.

  The world seemed to have ended for Kiki Nomanta. There was fire and smoke and the sound of someone screaming. Kiki wiped the blood from his eyes and climbed painfully to his feet. Glass shards were embedded in his head and chest. He began pulling them out with trembling hands, wincing at the pain, and dropping them on the floor one by one. He was in shock, and everything around him seemed to be blurred and distant.

  What was once a busy office full of lawyers with busy schedules was now a burning and collapsed wreck. The wall of the building had been blown in and the floor had given way. Everything was at an angle, and desks, filing cabinets and even office partitions had tumbled down the slope. A good part of the first floor office was now collapsed onto the ground floor, and Kiki was at the bottom standing amid the jumbled wreckage now at street level. All around him people were screaming and crying, while others climbed to their feet in a daze. Kiki didn’t notice any of them. He was looking up, wondering where his desk had once been. He hadn’t even felt the impact of his fall. He couldn’t remember what had happened at all. He had been on the phone to Breda, looking out at the square, when one of the Keruh Warriors had pointed his rifle up at the building. There had been a flash and then...

  A voice finally broke through his shattered mind.

  “Kiki! Kiki! Get out! Run!”

  Kiki turned to see one of his colleagues trapped under a desk. It was Susu Antipo, senior partner and one of the lawyers in the firm that Kiki had known the longest. Without hesitation, Kiki went over to him and began to help him up from under the desk. He wasn’t the only one doing that. All around survivors of the blast were throwing broken furniture about and pulling injured people from underneath. Some of those they found were past helping, while others reached out with bloodstained hands.

  Susu Antipo looked around anxiously as Kiki heaved the desk aside. “Don’t waste time doing that!” he shouted. “My leg’s broken! Get out, Kiki! Get away!”

  Kiki began to help Susu up. “It’s alright, Susu. I don’t think the building will collapse.”

  Susu pushed him away and promptly fell down on the desk. “I don’t mean the building! I mean them!” He pointed and Kiki looked out through the smoke and dust at the scene across the street.

  In the square in front of the burning Senate building a bloody massacre was taking place. Men, women and children were being cut down without mercy while soldiers and police fought to keep the Keruh Warriors at bay. The battle was vicious and one sided. The screams and shouts floated across and began to filter into Kiki’s mind. He saw a child smashed by a great axe, the blood splashing in the air. He saw the mother of the child throw herself screaming on the Keruh only to be pulled aside and thrown to the ground by two more Warriors who then axed her to death. Soldiers fired at Warriors at close quarters, or even struck at them with their rifles. Some had stolen the axes and smashed them into the Keruh, their black blood splashing like those of the child. But the soldiers and police were outnumbered and surrounded, and one by one they fell. Everywhere there was death and agony. An air transport fell out of the sky, flames and smoke trailing after it. And while those in the square fought and died, others ran in panic. Many escaped, but some only ran so far before they were caught in a laser blast that threw them to the ground in a knot of arms and legs.

  Kiki stared as if in a trance, hardly noticing that those who were running across the square were running directly toward his building. And behind them, some of the Keruh Warriors chased them. They never paused in their ungainly pursuit, even firing their rifles as they bobbed along.

  At the front of those who ran was a man. He ran directly toward Kiki, his face filled with fear and pain. He had crossed the street and almost reached the building when a laser blast burned through his back and burst in flame from his chest. His face twisted in agony and he was thrown forward, landing almost at Kiki’s feet.

  The Dominant of the Belol’Fan stood amid his bodyguard in the square. He was no taller or larger than any of the Host, and his armour bore no insignia to mark his rank. Like the rest of the Host, he was lopsided, his left side and limbs enormous compared to his right. Even his hands were grossly ill matched. The one that carried the axe was large, the three fingers bulky and short, while his right hand was almost delicate, the spindly fingers gripping the rifle tightly. His triangular head was dominated by the large mandibles he used to eat with, and could only be described as a head because of the two facetted eyes that were set high up on either side. At one time, in the dim and distant past, the mandibles were used to fight for dominance in the Hive. That was when times were simpler. Not anymore. Now a Dominant had to prove his worth in more than just single combat.

  But that was how it should be. How could any member of the Host follow a lead
er that didn’t share the glory of the fight? A Dominant could only be dominant if he had the respect of the Host, and that meant sharing their losses as well as their victories. The presence of the bodyguards that surrounded the Dominant may have seemed to contradict this, but they were there to protect him from the challenges of the First and Second of the Host, not from the enemy.

  The First and Second were the next in rank of the Host, and it was from here that the future Dominant of the Belol’Fan would eventually come. But to take his place, they first had to announce their challenge to him openly and fairly, because if they didn’t, the challenge would be considered illegal, and the Dominant’s bodyguards would cut them down without hesitation. But although the Dominant’s bodyguards would willingly give their lives to defend him from an illegal challenge, they stood aside in war. Here the Dominant was expected to fight his own battles. He had to stand with his Host and fight as they fought; he had to prove his strength and bravery. At one time this would have been enough. But now a Dominant had to prove that he could lead with wisdom as well as strength.

  The Dominant looked at the burning Senate building and turned away. It had never been strategically important, but the fires that would engulf it would make the war here easier. The battle had been brisk, but now it was nearly over. Blood stained the black armour he wore, and there was a dent in the front where an Edenite soldier had struck him so hard that his carapace within was sore. He had enjoyed the battle more for his wound. In fact the wound was worth more to him than the burning of the Senate building. His fight and victory before the eyes of his Host around him reinforced and consolidated his position. He had proved that he could lead with strength. Now he had to prove his wisdom.

  A discrete distance away from the bodyguards that surrounded the Dominant stood the First of the Belol’Fan. Also present were the Seconds of the Mysan’Taf, Telen’Gal and Orly’Ank. All the Hives of the Keruh were represented, and it was to the Second of the Mysan’Taf that the Dominant now turned. His mandibles parted and he uttered a series of clicks and hissing noises. To an outsider, it was merely a random sequence of low whistles and clicks, but to the other Keruh in the square it was a deep and commanding voice.

  “The Dominant of the Belol’Fan seeks an ally in war.”

  “It is a noble request.” The Second of the Mysan’Taf replied, and swept his smaller hand diagonally before him. “Speak, and your request will be granted.”

  “Take command here with the Host of the Mysan’Taf. The Edenites will defend their city. It has no value to us but it has great value to them. Level it, burn it, and take no prisoners. The spirit of the Edenites will die as their city dies.”

  The Second swept his smaller hand diagonally before him once more. “It will be made so.”

  He hurried away, his unequal form causing him to bob up and down.

  The Dominant now turned to the Second of the Telen’Gal and repeated his request for an ally in war. The same response and sweeping hand gesture was made by the Second of the Telen’Gal before the Dominant gave his next command.

  “Contact the Dominant of the Telen’Gal. The attack on Kalahar and Nemen is to proceed with haste. The landing fields must be taken before the Host can enter.”

  As before, the Second of the Telen’Gal swept his smaller hand diagonally before him. “It will be made so.”

  Finally, the Dominant gave his last orders to the First of the Belol’Fan. But this time there was a difference. The Dominant shouldered his rifle and made the same sweeping gesture with his smaller hand. “Honourable First, rouse the Hosts of the Belol’Fan and Orly’Ank. Our work here is done. We go to join with the Host of the Telen’Gal at Nemen. The Defence Net is our goal.”

  The First of the Belol’Fan bowed his head and swept his smaller hand diagonally before him. “It will be made so, Gracious One.”

  Without radios or other artificial means of communication, the orders given by the Dominant were passed throughout the Host. It wasn’t that the Keruh were incapable of using such devices, or that they frowned upon them, it was just that they weren’t necessary. Communication within the Host was often achieved by scent and sound or the slightest of gestures. Each Warrior would know instantly what was required and what was intended. And all would obey without question.

  Almost in unison, the Keruh Warriors in the square abandoned their pursuit of any surviving Edenites and rejoined the column of Warriors that had continued to trudge by unperturbed as the fighting had taken place. By now those Warriors at the front of the long column would already be nearing the city limits and the highway that stretched out toward Nemen. It was on this highway that the Keruh would face the greatest of danger. Exposed on the flat and featureless land, they would be open to attack from the air. For them, speed was imperative, and they continued to hurry on without interest in the citizens or buildings of Jutlam City. It was those at the back of the column that the Edenites had to fear, those who had not yet even reached the square and the burning Senate building. These Warriors now broke from the column as if on some unheard and unseen command. They quickly fanned out, hacking down any people they found in the street without warning. Some of the Warriors held larger rifles in their great hands instead of axes, and these they used to shoot up at any air transports that still flew overhead, bringing several down in flames that exploded in the streets or ploughed into buildings. But the Warriors also continued to fire at the buildings themselves, blowing great holes in the walls and causing floors to collapse. Other Warriors ran inside the buildings, killing those they found inside.

  Breda was on the first floor when the Keruh Warrior burst through into the stairwell below. With one slice of its axe half a dozen people fell, blood splashing the walls and the faces of those nearby. The mad panic doubled.

  The tide turned on the stairs as people down near the bottom suddenly tried to run back upward. But those farther up were unaware of the danger, and people clashed and fought on the narrow confines of the stairs, both eager to go the way of their choosing without regard for those who wanted to go the other way. People climbed over one another, causing others to fall and the screaming and shouting increased.

  Down below, the Keruh Warrior climbed over the people on the stairs, smashing its great axe down on them without mercy. It moved relentlessly upward, killing again and again, splitting skulls and bodies. It seemed that it would go on without end, but the terror of the people finally overcame their panic.

  Breda was being crushed by the mass of heaving people, she could see the evil form of the Keruh advancing and there was nothing she could do to escape. Then someone jumped at the Keruh. Either in an attempt to get passed it, or to actually stop it, no one could say. The Warrior just threw the man aside, but then two more landed on it, then a third, and then a moment later half a dozen terrified men and women jumped on it from the steps above. The Edenites were large, and despite the Keruh Warrior’s own size, it soon lost its footing. With the axe flailing in the air, and several people hanging on to it, the Keruh tumbled down the steps.

  There was sudden relief on the stairs. Breda could breathe again. With a sudden rush, those near the bottom of the stairs ran over the bodies of those that had been killed and fled from the stairwell. Breda ran with them. As she ran out the door she saw the Keruh wedged in a corner. Men and women were kicking, punching and stamping on it in a wild frenzy. Its carapace had broken under the onslaught, and black blood stained the walls and mixed with the red. It still struggled, but then someone wrestled the axe from its hand and heaved it down. There was a splat, and it moved no more.

  The foyer of the building was wrecked. There was broken glass everywhere and bodies scattered about. There was also another Keruh Warrior inside and four more waiting on the pavement outside. Breda ducked and screamed as the Warriors shot at those who ran from the stairwell. A man next to her was hit and his blood splashed her as he fell. More died as they ran for the imagined safety of the streets.

  There
was another explosion outside. Two of the Keruh Warriors were smashed by the blast, their dismembered limbs blown inside the foyer. The remaining Keruh turned their attention to their new enemy. An armoured vehicle had appeared at the end of the street. It fired again, blowing another Warrior to pieces and damaging the side of the building.

  The Keruh fired back, and in the ensuing battle, Breda and those who could run fast enough fled from the building and poured down a side street.

  “This is madness!” Susu shouted and kicked his good leg as Kiki carried him down the street. “Put me down, Kiki! Think of yourself! Think of your father! You can run faster without me!”

  “Shut up, will you!” Kiki replied, struggling under the weight of his friend as they ran from the square.

  Kiki and Susu were among hundreds who ran down the wide street, and Kiki wasn’t the only one carrying someone either. But with the extra weight, those with their burdens were falling behind the others. It didn’t matter, the Keruh weren’t chasing them. Kiki couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t understand why the Keruh had turned away at the last moment. A Keruh Warrior was actually in the building standing among them when it had turned its back on them and ran away. It was almost an insult, as if they didn’t matter anymore.

  Susu craned his neck and looked up. He couldn’t see the square or the Keruh anymore. And he couldn’t raise his head high enough to see anything much else. He lowered his head and gave up.

  “You should be looking for Titi,” he said, resigned to the fact that he was being carried to safety whether he liked it or not. “And there’s that pretty girlfriend of yours. You should be looking for them, not wasting your time with me.”

  “I’ll look for Breda and Dad once I know you’re in safe hands. There has to be other parts of Jutlam City that are unaffected yet. There’ll be people there who can help.”

  Kiki had spoken with confidence but he didn’t feel that way. His life had fallen apart and everything had changed. Everything he had thought was important that morning was now meaningless and forgotten. Work, his plans for the future, everything was now blank. All he could think about was Breda. He had to find her. As soon as Susu was safe, he would head for her office building. And once he had Breda safe in his arms once more, they could go and look for their parents together.

  The survivors ran on, more in silence now, their breath reserved for the task of running. There seemed to be more of them now than ever. But Kiki was right. They reached an intersection, when suddenly there was the noise of traffic and there were more people. The buildings here were undamaged, and the people were coming and going on their usual business, or were just passers-by. It was a part of the city that the Keruh had not yet reached. Cars swerved and screeched to a halt, and people looked up in shock at the bedraggled and bloodstained survivors from the square. In an instant, anxious people were running toward them, grabbing them and pulling them aside. Most of the survivors fell into their arms gratefully, although some ran on in their panic and had to be chased and pulled back, screaming. But there were others who didn’t want help. They stood in the street and ranted and raved. They wanted everyone to know what had happened in the square, they wanted everyone to know what they had suffered, and what the Keruh had done.