The Foundling Saga: Revelation (16 page)

“They are looking for you. All of them have weapons that are worse than stun pistols,” said the man catching up with the girl. Tane realised from the likeness that he was probably her father.

“They arrived about 30 minutes after you left and set fire to several homes. The other foresters are returning. We went back but we saw three others being beaten badly,” he paused for breath and should his head in dismay “who are these people? They were hitting an elderly man with a gun. It was Jethro. He’s just lying still in the square. We climbed out of our rear window. We saw Kimber running back with his wife towards the forest but there was a loud bang and they both fell down. I saw Kimber moving but his wife was still.”

Keller was outraged and he could see Bula getting angry, too. “Let’s take a look. This is because of us.”

Bula looked at Keller. “I am going back. I don’t mind if you and Tane make a run for it - but this is wrong, totally wrong. I am not going run from these people!”

Tane said nothing. She asked the foresters how many men were down there. The teenager’s father seemed to think that he had seen about fifty. Some of the helis were taking off and landing further afield, clearly searching for people.

Bula repeated that he was going back. The father of the young girl told her to go on ahead with her mother. He was willing to go back to see if they could do anything.

The four of them rushed back down the path. They stopped beside a large woodpile near a river behind the settlement. Bula, Tane and Keller removed their backpacks and stored them under some wood. Each of them took a smaller pack out and filled these with some essentials, including night gear, in case they had to lay low near the settlement. Bula told Tane and Keller to take their stun pistols with them.

The forester with them was called Shaw. He kept watch towards the settlement. The others lightened their load in preparation for getting a closer look at the scenario playing out down in the village.

They were about to set off when Shaw motioned them to keep still. He was about twenty yards ahead of them ducking behind a woodpile. Tane, Bula and Keller kept down out of sight, wondering what was concerning Shaw.

They suddenly heard a heli in front of them. It rose terrifyingly over the brow of the hill. There was a
whoosh
and the heli fired something towards them hitting Shaw’s woodpile. Shaw ran out temporarily blinded, by the dust created. He ran away from the other three and stood bewildered, holding his eyes. The wind caused by the heli, blew part of the cloud of dust away and he saw himself almost face to face with the oncoming heli. He ran back towards the same pile of wood and there was another
whoosh
and the pile collapsed partly on him. He wasn’t moving.

“Don’t move, we can’t help him yet,” said Bula.

They realised the heli was landing. Two men jumped out of the heli and walked over to Shaw. They kicked his inert frame but there was no movement. One of them crouched down and felt his pulse.

“Can you fly that heli, Bula?” said Keller.

“Of course,” said Bula and then realised what Keller was thinking. “The pilot is still in the heli. Have you two still got your stun pistols?”

Keller and Tane nodded. “Well, get them ready.”

Bula told them he would go around the woodpile to the heli that was out of sight. He planned to restrain the pilot. In the meantime, the two uniformed men took an arm each and tried to drag Shaw out from under the wood.

“Let’s go! Be strong Keller”. He seemed to have no doubt about Tane.

As a thirteen year old, Keller had once found an older boy teasing Merna beside the stream that separated two fields. In a fit of rage, he had run at the older boy and hit him on the side of the face. His punch had little effect. The older boy knocked him down easily and left him with a bloody mouth. Worse still, the older boy pushed Merna into the stream and strutted away laughing whilst Merna sat in the water in tears. The older boy was from a neighbouring field. The event caused a mini sensation among his immediate family. Somehow, the older boy was dealt with by Merna’s father. There was no more talk about this, except a few days later Cormic took Keller aside and demonstrated various techniques to bring a bigger person down. Then he told him not to get into any fights unless he really had to, “You never know,” he smiled, “I might have taught them as well.”

Bula disappeared around the woodpile towards the heli.

Tane and Keller glanced at each and nodded with determined looks. They gripped their stun pistols in two hands pointing them downwards, Keller watching how Tane held hers.

They stood up and without a sound ran at the two men. They were ten feet away as Tane lifted her stun pistol and fired at the man on the left. He had let go of Shaw’s leg and was looking at them as though confused. He dropped to the floor in a careless heap. The other man still had hold of Shaw’s leg. “Don’t fire, you’ll get Shaw!” shouted Tane. Keller was already too close to his target to fire. He launched himself through the air, intending to pull the man down. Instead his head collided with the man’s lower torso and he impacted, then glanced off and fell to the floor. The second man staggered back then badly winded, fell backwards. Keller rolled instinctively. The man then tried to stand but Tane fired her stun pistol at him. He collapsed without a sound.

Keller picked up his stun pistol and rounded the woodpile towards the heli. Bula nearly clattered into him. “Are you two okay?” he gasped.

“We’re fine,” Keller said, “Shaw looks bad.”

Whilst Tane tended to the injured Shaw, Keller watched over the two renegades. Bula got into the heli to remove some plas twine from the toolbox. Keller helped Bula tie up the two stunned men who had tried to drag Shaw away. Bula told them he was going to fly into the settlement. There was no argument. Keller and Tane just nodded. Bula then undressed the unconscious pilot. He was larger than Bula but with some belt-tightening, Bula would be able to imitate the pilot.

Tane was working the slate again. “We are going to have to risk it. I will send the usual six notes so that they know we are safe. I am also sending an encoded message with our co-ordinates. Keller, you should remain in hiding and keep an eye on Shaw.”

“No. Sorry, I am not staying. This has gone far enough. You guys are all I have at the moment and I’m going with you. We’ve just proved it’s not safe here.” Keller said. “Bula, why can’t you take us in? You can take us in as prisoners or captured foresters for questioning. We just have to see what is going on down there. Tane and I may be able to disguise ourselves as foresters and see what can be done to help. For a start, they won’t be expecting any foresters to carry lethal force weapons – we should take these with us,” he said, pointing towards the guns that Kurk’s men had carried.

They discussed the merits of this soberly. To even pick up a weapon capable of this was difficult for both Bula and Tane. However, they had begun to feel like sitting ducks and knew it was only a matter of time before their luck ran out, so reluctantly they decided to go with Keller’s plan.

Bula clambered aboard with Tane and Keller in the rear passenger compartment. They strapped in and Bula worked the controls to lift the heli. Shaw was still unconscious but stable - as were the three men now tied up back to back.

They cleared the forest canopy and the heli drifted down towards the settlement. There were half a dozen other helis coming over the horizon, landing along the tracks leading to the settlement on three sides. The scene below them was chaotic. As they had been warned, they saw smoke coming from several domes and they could see some figures prone in various places. It was a despairing sight. They flew through a bank of smoke and came out close to the village. They could see a large group of foresters sat down in the main circle. There were men standing around them. “They are herding them like cattle,” Tane cried.

“There are children with them,” Keller said flatly. “This is a nightmare.”

They landed behind one of the domed houses. Keller and Bula stepped down, quickly followed by Tane.

Tane entered the low domed house to see if she could see down to the main circle.

Keller and Bula were at the rear of the heli deciding on whether they should take the guns that Kurk’s men had apparently been using on some of the foresters. They suddenly realised that they had unwanted company. Six of the uniformed men rounded the corner. “Bula, there’s too many,” said Keller as Bula made a grab for one of the guns from the heli. He composed himself. He took Keller’s arm and walked towards the men who came to a halt on seeing Keller.

Bula continued forward, pushing Keller ahead of him, who bowed his head. He nodded at the renegades and continued walking past them. “They look like thugs,” Bula whispered.

“Hey, hold there!” a voice cried out. Bula stopped with his hand still on Keller’s shoulder. “Face forward,” he whispered to Keller.

Keller froze. He then glanced ahead wondering what his options were. He saw Tane now, who slid quietly out of the domed house and across a small vegetable patch. He realised she must have seen what had happened. Tane moved down towards the main circle. He had no idea where she was going but presumably any other path was a problem for her. He saw a man lying prone on the grass in the garden beyond where she walked.

Bula had turned around to face the uniformed voice. “Yes?” he said.

The man approached looking mildly disinterested in the proceedings. His five colleagues followed him obediently.

“Who is this?” he said and prodded Keller in the back with his weapon.

“A forester, I found him wandering around up there,” he said, indicating the forest.

“Turn around,” the trooper said to Keller.

As Keller did so, the man was momentarily dumbfounded and then shouted to the others. He struck Keller around the side of the head with his weapon. Bula turned to take hold of the man’s weapon and he himself was struck on the side of the head and fell to the ground. There was a splash of blood as soon as he hit the floor. Keller tried to stand up and looked over at Bula before he was then kicked in the side, forcing him to roll over.

The other troopers seemed momentarily confused by the scene of one trooper beating another.

Keller stood up and ran back towards the heli pushing through two of the men who hadn’t been prepared for his sudden move. Keller grabbed one of the weapons from the rear of the heli. He turned and pointed this at a small shed by the dome and fired. He heard a
whoosh
and the shed splintered. The men took cover rapidly. Keller, shocked at the devastation of the weapon, stood momentarily confused. Only one of them, the apparent leader, had been carrying the same weapon.

Keller ran into the bushes and beyond into the forest, tucking himself down into a bush. Bula had earlier wondered what the numbered dial was on the side of the weapon when they had put them in the heli. Keller looked over the rock and saw the men taking cover. He examined the weapon quickly. He moved the dial to the left and fired behind him towards the trees. There was a startling whoosh again and higher up in the trees there was a huge splintering of wood and a cloud of dust. He again looked over the rock. They weren’t moving. He changed the dial the other way and pointed it at a nearby tree. A hissing sound erupted and a small but perfect hole appeared in the tree. Keller glanced up searching the area from where he had come from, he was desperate to see where Bula was.

There was another
whoosh
. The tree beside him almost disintegrated. He sat still - scared for his life and with no idea of what to do next. He heard a number of voices. He realised that he wasn’t trapped at all if he made his way behind the rocks to his right and out of sight down the hill. He thought about firing the weapon over the rock to scare them off and make a run for it. They couldn’t send helis into the forest here and they had to pass where he was, to progress down this side of the forest slope. He thought that he had about an hour and a half until shortnight and that might help him. However, he wasn’t going to leave the people to face the wrath of Kurk’s men.

He lay still for some time, listening. He could still hear movement and was worrying about his friends and the foresters.

A voice suddenly called his name “Hey, Keller! Foundling! I think you probably regret coming to New Fiji now don’t you.” He was being taunted. “Your friends are going to suffer a little now. These traitors to Rayleigh will pay a penalty for siding with you.”

He heard some crying and crawled forward, looking between the rocks. He was shocked to see that the foresters who had been forced to gather in the main circle were being led to the area near the heli. He wouldn’t be able to fire the weapon towards them. They were being pushed roughly by a number of the uniformed people. They were then made to sit down.

“These foresters are starting to get hungry and thirsty, Earthman. It’s your fault - are you comfortable up there? Or are you ready to give up yet?”

He heard a heli land close to where he had run from. The uniformed men became more disciplined suddenly, with the crowd in front of them.

Keller thought about his next steps and realised how alone he was.

He now heard a voice he recognised. “Keller, I understand you are in a position of strength up in your little hideout. Well, you can run or you can save some lives here. Your mother has been sentenced to death in her absence for her treachery in the last two days. Perhaps we will allow you some mercy if you give yourself up. You have caused us a lot of trouble up until now.”

There were gasps and more crying from the foresters. Keller could now just see Kurk standing with some other uniformed men, all of whom had the same weapons that Keller now held. Kurk motioned to the renegades who waded into the foresters with threats.

Keller was terrified. What sort of man was this?

“Keller, you are an enemy of the new world, the new Rayleigh. You have a choice. If you don’t come out of your hiding place, we will simply start to kill your friends, these traitors cowering here. They add little to the strength of this nation and, for those lucky to survive today, we will make sure they provide labour to help our mining operations on Khatru. You might just benefit from the same treatment if you don’t wear my patience too thin!”

“Keller, they are going to kill you anyway! Run!” It was Carla. He heard a dull thud and some screaming. He was startled by this and saw Carla lying prone on the floor and the guards kicking at those that had sat around her.

“Bring up the children, Captain,” Kurk shouted. There was more screaming and Keller knew that people were being beaten. He could just make out the children at the front huddled together. The noise was awful.

“Quiet, keep quiet,” Kurk screamed at them.

Keller knew he was going to die now, whatever happened. He wasn’t, however, going to let anything happen to the children. He dropped his weapon on the floor and stood up. “Leave them be!” he shouted.

“Good, now come here.” Keller walked towards Kurk - two of his men came towards him and forced him to kneel down. Keller saw Tane amongst the foresters with a renegade standing over her. She tried to make eye contact with him briefly. “Your life may have become worthless to us after your actions. Your short period of freedom has caused us a few problems but our plans remain. We will secure this world and make it a strong world. We don’t back down from our goal of securing control over Rayleigh, but now we can, at least, ensure that once we move on Plymouth Rock and regain control over Macau B, this will be the end of Governor Whelehan and her useless officials.”

“You have taken lives. There is no need to harm these people anymore. It was chance that found us here, leave them in peace,” Keller implored.

“Young man, these are weak people. If they are not prepared to work with us then they are, quite simply, against us.”

With that statement Kurk moved his feet apart, raised the weapon towards the foresters and Keller felt both sickness and helplessness overwhelm him.

Suddenly, there was a thud, then two more. Kurk looked startled and then crumpled to the floor. Several of the uniformed men with the large weapons also fell to the floor. The others looked confused. Two made a grab for the weapons and fell down.

There was a mixture of shock, terror and hope in the eyes of the foresters in front of Keller. Some wept as their ordeal seemed to take a new turn.

“Remain still! We have been authorised to use lethal force,” an amplified voice yelled. Keller remained kneeling and looked at the body of Kurk. He could see the wound either side of his head and realised he was dead.

Nobody moved for a second and then suddenly the voice repeated its command.

Then five camouflaged men came from out of the trees and three others came from one of the domed properties.

“Those of you wearing the rebel uniform will be safe if you remain still. You need to move your hands to the top of your head and keep them in place until you are told. This is by order of Her Excellency, Governor Whelehan.”