The Black Planet (10 page)

Chapter 17

The medics went down the first row and the units began to open with a faint hiss.  Nerves were stretched taught as the first figures appeared.  All were in a daze and many collapsed to the floor.  Kelly stepped forward, ‘common get on your bloody feet, this isn’t a Sunday school picnic.  There is a towel in front of you if you are shy.  Get it on and follow the white line.’  His sudden roar shocked many out of their stupor.  Fifty people began to cry out and shout at once.

‘Keep the bloody noise down and follow that bloody line.  Collect some clothing and get yourselves dressed, move your arses there are hundreds more of you buggers so get a move on.  This a bloody rescue mission not a bloody Sunday school outing.’

Enough understood and obeyed for the rest to follow.  Amanda was trying not to grin.  Many of them had been on the sharp end of Kelly's tongue over that past couple of months but she was glad he was here now.

‘What the hell is going on?’  Squeaked a young woman who appeared in front of her.

Amanda handed her a light blue uniform, ‘everything will be explained soon.  Move behind the screen and get dressed; then follow the white line.  You will come to a series of tables where you will be supplied with socks and shoes something to eat and drink.  You will be asked your age name and date of birth.  Please follow whatever colour of line you are told to until you come to the accommodation area; pick a bunk and please stay there.  A man appeared next and began jabbering in a language she did not recognise.  She handed him an earpiece and showed him hers.  He put it in his ear and began babbling.  His words were translated to her.  His look of surprise was comical as her words were translated to him.  She repeated the instructions and he moved on.

An extensive runner system had been placed round the units.  As the first units were emptied they were shuttled to the back of the freighter and another row brought forward.  Men went from unit to unit and uncoupled them from the ships power before they could be moved.  With each pod having enough internal power for a couple of months they weren’t worried about the units sitting for a while before being opened.

The day began to wear on and Kelly's voice was becoming hoarse.  The level of noise in the freighter had slowly began to increase.  When the last of them were emptied they began to take down the screens.  Kelly decided he needed a drink of water.  There was a queue of people waiting for water and a lot of folk milling about.  Many sat on their bunks still in shock.

‘It is you isn’t it Sarge?’

Kelly snapped round and a lump of emotion almost prevented him from talking, ‘Roy Brennan, you old son of a bitch.’

The two burst out laughing and shook hands warmly and then on impulse embraced briefly.  They split apart embarrassed by the display of emotion in front of others, ‘looks like we made it again Sarge, but what the fuck is going on?’

Kelly laughed louder, ‘oh man we made it alright Roy.  It’s a long story but try and keep the bad language down bud.  The captain is a bit of a hard ass about that.’

‘Yeah sorry Sarge, but what the hell is going on, where the hell are we?’

‘We are on our way back to Earth.’

He could see the confusion on Roy’s face, ‘we’re what!’

Kelly sighed, ‘the year is 2023 Roy.’

The smile slipped, ‘you're shitting me Sarge?’

‘I wish I was Roy.’

Roy's legs gave way and Kelly grabbed him and guided him to a nearby chair.  Roy had been with him since Omaha beach.  He shook his head, ‘I don’t understand Sarge.  We were fighting on a hill in Korea, about to be wiped out for the last time, then I woke up here.  Is this a ship?’

‘I know the feeling Roy.  It is a ship but it’s a spaceship, we aren’t on Earth any more.  We were abducted by aliens and brought to a planet where they were experimenting on us.  We have just been rescued by the first humans to venture that far out into space and are on our way home.  I know it’s hard to take in all at once but I need you to accept that as fact and suck it up bud.’

‘Holy shit you're not jesting are you Sarge?’

‘No Roy I'm not.  Everyone here is in the same boat except the crew.  They are wearing dark uniforms, the rest of us this light blue.’

‘You sound like you been awake a while Sarge.’

‘I have Roy, long story.  You got a bunk yet?’

Roy shook his head, ‘nope.’

‘The bunk area is down the far end.  Look for the American flag hanging from the bulkhead.’

Roy looked behind him, ‘oh yeah I see it.  That’s a lot of flags Sarge.’

It had been Kelly's suggestion to decorate the walls with flags in the hope of attracting people from those countries and quickly identifying any potential trouble spots.  ‘Yup.’

‘A lot of commie fuckers as well.’

‘I see you have found a friend who is as fond of profanities as yourself sergeant.’

Kelly tuned smiling slowly, ‘Roy Brennan, meet Lady Jane Montgomery Royce.’

Roy's mouth had dropped open, and Jane smiled, ‘another soldier.’

Roy found his voice, ‘sergeant ma’am.’

‘You Americans are very fond of your sergeants.’

They both laughed politely, ‘meet any more Brits?’

‘Unfortunately yes.  They were extremely rude and Amanda sent me to the command deck for an hour.’

Kelly's smile slipped, ‘I am sorry to hear that.  Still you received a letter from your King didn’t you?’

‘Ah yes, and electric letter, who would have thought it possible.  I am afraid it brought bad news.  Of course I knew all my immediate family would have passed however I wasn’t as lucky as you sergeant.  Both my brothers were killed in the First World War and my only surviving nephew was killed in the Second World War.  It would seem the war to end all wars didn’t actually end them, but I presume you already know that.  Our titles and land were returned to the crown; it would seem they are now in the possession of a green grocer.  The only good news is that I am being allowed to keep my title and he has invited me to come stay with him as a permanent guest of the royal family.’

‘I am sorry to hear about your family, but staying with the King can’t be bad.’

‘A gilded cage sergeant.’

Kelly shrugged, ‘that’s true but I’ll bet there are some here who will return to nothing.’

‘Yes of course.’

A young woman interrupted them, ‘Lady Jane, is that you?’

She snapped round, ‘Isobel, goodness, how did you get here?’

Tears erupted from the young woman’s eyes, ‘when your horse returned alone your father sent everyone out to look for you.  I was checking the woods up by the mill meadow because I knew it was one of your favourite spot.  I saw something in the woods and thought it was you, but it was a strange looking cow.  Then I woke up here.  What on earth is going on?’

Tears sprang from Lady Jane’s eyes, ‘oh Isobel, you have no idea how good it is to see a friend.’  The two embraced.  ‘Come with me I will tell you everything.’  She turned back to Kelly, ‘excuse me will you sergeant?’

‘Of course, did she work for your family?’

‘Isobel is my personal hand maiden; if you will excuse us gentlemen.’

Roy waited until she was out of earshot, ‘wow that is some dame.’

Kelly grinned, ‘she is a piece of work that’s for sure.  Want to go see if any more of the guys made it Roy.’

‘Sure thing Sarge.’

Kelly smiled, ‘why they hell do you keep calling me Sarge, we are the same rank and not even in the army any more Roy.’

Roy shrugged, ‘you’ve always been Sarge, always will be to me.’

Kelly shook his head with a grin, ‘let’s go see if anyone else from the unit has turned up.’

‘Sounds good to me, you never seen any of them coming out of the pods?’

‘Nope, don’t look for Kowalski though, he didn’t make it.’

‘Last I saw of him he was wounded.’

‘Yeah, these alien assholes picked us up, took us to this black planet.  I woke up strapped to a table.  Kowalski was next to me and they were cutting him up.  I got free and killed a couple of them but Kowalski was a gonner.  I got his tags.’

‘Shit.’

As they approached the bunk area a commotion got up.  They could hear a woman yelp and a man scream in Japanese.  The sound of flesh being struck rang loudly in the freighter.  The two men ran to investigate.  A Japanese man was striking a child on the floor.  Kelly's fist connected with the man’s jaw and he went flying.  His friends who had been standing round him made a move towards Kelly and Roy, but before they could come to blows another Japanese voice rang out.  It was one of the pilots.  At the sight of him the men snapped to attention.

‘What the hell is going on here?’ He screamed.

When Kelly snapped to attention and saluted the Japanese dropped to a knee.  The dazed man also managed to make it to his knee.  The pilot returned Kelly's salute, ‘What is happening here sergeant Kelly?’

‘I heard a ruckus sir and discovered this man hitting this child sir.’

He turned on the luckless man, ‘do you have an explanation for your behaviour?’

‘I was simply obeying orders sir, it is not a child.  I was sent to apprehend her and take her back to base.’

‘What is your rank and name?’

‘Corporal Hiroshi sir.’

‘Who gave you the order?’

‘Commander Kato sir.’

‘Where were you stationed?’

‘Bohol, the Philippines sir.’

‘Take a good look around you corporal.  Where do you think you are?’

‘I don’t know sir.’

‘Do you think you are still in the Philippines?’

‘I don’t know sir.’

‘Not only are you not in the Philippines you are no longer a soldier.  Your war finished almost eighty years ago.  Do you understand me?’

‘No sir.’

‘You will not touch that woman again, do you understand that order?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Very soon the leader of this expedition is going to make an announcement.  Until then you are to do nothing.  Sit on your bunk as you were ordered to, do you understand that order?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Good, but let me make myself quite clear.  Japan is no longer at war.  If you or any of your men attempt to make any kind of trouble you will be stuck back in one of those pods until the authorities at home can deal with you.  There you will be tried as a common criminal if you dare touch anyone aboard this ship again, do you understand that?’

‘Hi.’

‘Good that goes for every man and woman aboard this ship.’

He reached down for the young woman but she shied away from him.  He stood up and bowed slightly, ‘I apologies for the behaviour of one of my fellow countrymen.  Would you like to go with Sergeant Kelly here; he will take you to the doctor to make sure you are all right.  Will you do that for me please sergeant?’

‘Yes of course sir, it will be a pleasure.’

She made to get up and Kelly held out his hand.  Hers disappeared into it.  Kelly was sure she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life, yet she was tiny.  He reflected she could have been a porcelain doll.  Her head dropped but her dark eyes came up.

‘Come with me we will get you looked at.’  She never answered.  Kelly pointed to his ear where he had the translator.  She produced hers from a pocket and put it in her ear.  ‘Talk into it.’  She wasn’t getting it.  Kelly thought hard, he had visited the Philippines once.  ‘Musta ka.’

Her eyes lit up and she began to talk.  Kelly grinned as the translator began to work.  ‘Do you understand me now?’

Her face lit up, ‘yes I do, thank you for saving me.  They were going to kill me.’

‘Why.’

‘One of their officers tried to assault me.  I hurt him, maybe even killed him and ran away.  Those men were chasing me.  They caught me and were going to take me back.  The next thing I know I was here.  What has happened, why did that Japanese officer stop them?’

‘Ah so many questions, but they will soon be answered.  In the mean time I am going to take you to the doctor.  What is your name?’

‘Mya.’

‘Nice to meet you Mya, you should be safe now.  The war is long over.’

‘It is she gasped.’

‘It is.’

He saw a tear come to her eyes.  He took her to the doctor and Amanda wasn’t very pleased.  The pilot turned up and Mya thanked him.  He seemed embarrassed and apologised for his fellow countrymen’s behaviour.  Kelly left her there and made his way towards the bunk area to see if anymore of his men had turned up.

Chapter 18

Steven and Buzz met Amanda on the bridge of the freighter.  ‘How are things?’

She took a deep breath, ‘the sooner you make this address the better.  Sergeant Kelly's unusual short sharp shock, bawl it out of them seems to have worked.  There are a few still in shock, but nowhere near as many as we thought there would be.  We have had one incident of violence so far but with this many men on board I think it could quite easily escalate.  Of course there is mass confusion and we need that address as quickly as possible.’

‘Tell me about the incident.’

‘A Pilipino woman called Mya was being beaten by a Japanese soldier, Kelly saw it and stopped it and our pilot put an end to it.  They seem content to obey him for now.  The woman is a rare beauty but she is tiny, like a little doll.  A Japanese officer was perusing her but her father disapproved so he moved her to her grandparents in a place called the chocolate mountains.  The officer punisher her father and the village.  Of course someone revealed where she was and she was retrieved by his soldiers.  She had heard of what he had done to her father and the rest of her family so when he tried to have his wicked way she stabbed him in the neck with a knife she had concealed under her skirt and jumped out the back window and into the jungle.  He did actually die although she didn’t realise that at the time.  The officer’s commanding officer ordered she be hunted down and dragged back for immediate torture and execution.  They had just caught her when they were abducted.’

Steven didn’t like the story, but he struggled to remember that these people lived in a different time.  ‘Where is she now?’

‘She seems to have put herself under the protection of Kelly and his men.’

‘His men!’

Amada smiled, ‘six of them survived.’

‘Lucky men.  Well I doubt if the girl will have anything to worry about.  How are you and your team Amanda?’

‘It has been really hard, so many people so many questions.  There have been tears, joyous reunions and despair.  Lady Jane has found a friend; her personal maid was taken when she went looking for her.  They were some of the first to be taken.’

‘They were both lucky to survive so long.  OK let’s get this show on the road.’

Buzz accompanied him to the small podium that had been erected.  All of a sudden he found himself feeling nervous.  Buzz must have noticed and placed a hand on his shoulder.  When Steven looked round he smiled and winked.  It made him smile and gave him the courage to take the first steps.

As soon as the noise abated he began, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Captain Steven Gordon,’ he held up a silver ear peace, ‘if you have one of these please place it in your ear now.’  He demonstrated what he meant and watched and waited as many of them placed the earpiece they had been issued with into their ears.  When he detected no more movement he began again.  ‘Can everyone understand me now?’  There was some mumbling and quite a few nodding their heads.

He smiled, ‘then I shall begin again, my name is Captain Steven Gordon of the Earth Defence Corps.  What I am about to tell you will sound extremely farfetched however I beg all of you to remain calm and listen until I am finished.  The time is now nine pm, Earth Standard Time, or Greenwich Mean Time as it used to be known on the seventeenth of April in the year 2023.’  There was a sudden explosion of noise as people cried out their disbelief or quite simply their horror.

Steven stepped back from the blast but Buzz stepped forward.  ‘Calm the hell down and shut up,’ he roared at them.

Steven stepped forward again, ‘Thanks Buzz.’  They became quiet again as he cast his eyes over them.  ‘I know it is hard to comprehend at the moment, but please try and bear with me.  In the last hundred years just over fifteen thousand human beings were abducted by a race of alien beings not of our Earth.’  The nose levels increased again only to be shouted down by people in the audience who wanted to hear more.  Steven carried on, ‘as I said over fifteen thousand people were abducted over the last hundred years.  In this freighter; all of you are the only known survivors and I can assure you that you are the lucky ones.  Our mission was one of discovery and scientific research, however we found you instead on a planet halfway between our universe and the next.  Now it has turned into a rescue mission; that mission is to return all of you to the planet Earth.’

He had all of their attention now, many mouths hung open in shock and he smiled grimly, ‘many of you were taken during times of conflict back on the Earth.  Those wars are long over and are a matter of historical record.  I will not tolerate on form of resumption of hostilities on board this ship.  Punishment for a resumption of hostilities will be sever and dealt with harshly when you return home by your own governments.  There is at present no conflict of arms between any nations back home on Earth.  The Earth Defence Corps is made up of men and women from every nation on Earth.  We are now one race and one people; you would do well to remember that during the remainder of our journey.  All round the walls are terminals that you can use to check on the facts if you wish to do so.  They will also help you discover any living relatives back on Earth and put you in touch with your own governments.  Rehabilitation centres are already being set up by your own governments; they will help you adjust to life back home as it is now.’

He let that sink in for a few moments before continuing, ‘the crew aboard this ship will help you in any way we can.  Whether you wish to be shown how to use the terminals or even the toilets.’  That brought a small ripple of laughter.  ‘We will be transporting you to our facility on the Moon.  From there you will be transported back to Earth.  The amenities there are far more comfortable than they are here.  I apologise for the food.  We were not stocked to cater for an extra thousand bodies.  The bars you will be provided with are fairly tasteless but are full of nutrients and along with the water will sustain you until we reach the Moon.  Please don’t bother complaining because we are all going to be eating the same thing.’  That also brought a few chuckles but not many.

‘Of course we could have kept you in the pods until you reached Earth or even the Moon.  However the decision was taken to wake you seven days prior to our arrival there to get you used to your situation with people who are in the same situation as yourselves.  The adjustment most of you will have to make is huge.  Many if not most will have to bear the burden of loss for loved ones.  Rather than carry that burden alone when you reach Earth we thought it wiser if you shared that burden as a community.  You will receive as much help as we can give you but I implore you to turn to each other and help each other through this difficult phase of your reintegration with humanity as a whole.’

He pointed to the walls, ‘I am sure some of you would like a little proof as to your situation so if you would please observe the cargo bay doors.  You will be protected from space by an invisible force field.  Please do not try and leave the ship; it is minus two hundred and twenty degrees outside the ship and you would die instantly, the big doors began to rise and there was gasps of wonder and some people crowded towards the doors but some of the crew men held them back.  ‘That is close enough,’ Steven warned and they stopped.  Just then Ico slid into view and it brought even more gasps and shouts, ‘ladies and gentlemen the Earth Defence Corps Ship, Ico commanded by Captain Komoru Kaizu.  If you look to your left at the screen behind me I believe she wishes to say a few words.’

The screen leapt to life and the beautiful Komoru appeared, she bowed low and said hello in her native Japanese.  ‘Good evening everyone it is a joy to see you have all woken safely.  I just wished to say hello and reassure you all that you are all now perfectly safe.  You will be escorted all the way to the Moon by both of our ships and also the battle cruiser The Burning Wind which is just coming into sight now.’ 

Heads were snatched round and the cries became loud as the battle cruiser rolled into view with all of its lights on.  Steven cringed at the amount of profanities that were hurled at the scene.  Buzz was openly laughing.  Komoru flushed as she could hear the people’s reaction.  ‘I will hand you back to Captain Gordon.’

Once the battle cruiser was past the doors came down.  As the reality began to sink in a lot of people seemed to go into shock.  The crowd became subdued as they turned their attention back to Steven.  ‘As you can see you are being well protected.  I know it is going to be very hard for many of you to adjust but please consider the fourteen thousand that didn’t make it home.  The people of the Earth stand ready to welcome you home with open arms.  None of you will be made homeless and all will be catered for.  There are some personal items which we were able to retrieve.  When you gave your names we have been able to match up some of the documents retrieved and will be able to return these items to you.  Anything found within an item of clothing has been bagged with the identity of the person also found within that clothing.  However things like watches and jewellery which was also removed at the same time were found lying loose.  You will need to supply a description of any such item you wish returned.  If we can find it we will return it to you.  No weapon of any description will be returned during this voyage.  Firearms will not be returned at all.  We have discovered a number of ceremonial daggers that have names on them.  These will be returned at a more appropriate time and by that I mean when you arrive home on Earth.

I will stress again that there are no conflicts on Earth at this time and violence will not be tolerated aboard this ship.  As in all conflicts there were winners and losers and as I pointed out earlier they are now a matter of historical record; you will just have to suck it up and live with that.  We have already checked every military id that we found from every conflict that these men were involved in.  There are no outstanding warrants for any man’s arrest to do with war crimes from those wars.  Gentlemen you have served your time; this is now our time.  We are now at war with the race that abducted you from Earth and murdered so many of your companions.  We hope to be able to keep this conflict far from our beloved home world.  You will not be called to serve again in any capacity.  Take this opportunity to unwind, you are officially retired and will receive a pension from your countries of origin.  To find out what you will be entitled to please check the consoles, a crewmember will be available to assist you or show you how to operate them.  As there are so many of you please have a little patience with us, we will get round to helping you all.  Thank you.’  Steven stepped down and left the hold with Buzz hard on his heels.

‘They didn’t even give you a clap Stevie.’

Steven laughed, ‘I wasn’t looking for an applause Buzz, the poor buggers, did you see their faces?’

‘Couldn’t miss it bud.  I hope at least some find their families.’