A Paradox in Retrograde (19 page)

Despite Ananda’s expressions of fevered exhilaration in the face
of such resistance he knew this assault would be costly. Such
concerns for him were secondary. So as the last ofthe ready
shot had been expended the men now were given the order to
advance. At pace akin to a mad dog they rushed forward headlong with sword and bayonet into the jaws of death. The minutes
seemed to turn to hours as blow was traded for bloody blow.
Landaus summoned all his strength as he fought back the wave
of fear as he led the attack. As if in frenzy, with sword and dagger he engaged them one after another. Killing two as they stood
only inches away, he watched as the light of life slipped from
their eyes. It was here though that the creatures showed their
true mettle. For their skill with the sword was matched only by
their bravery. Here the men learned their bloody lesson as the
creature's weapons found their marks. Men were now falling to
the steel. Despite this late surge in the battle the dye had already
been cast. Ananda sensed their better than anyone his enemy’s
desperation and so planned to exploit it. He waited patiently for
the right moment. He sensed just at the height of the melee that
the moment to strike had arrived. Then he and a handful of
guardsmen attacked from a position on the enemy’s right flank.
Forward they pushed meeting the surprised defenders with a
frightening speed. Soon the two pincers met in the middle.
There the last of the creatures had fallen by way of a bayonet to
the gut. His anguished wail was the last sound they heard
ground fell silent for as quickly as it had startedit was over.

One by one the creatures had fallen, over come by superior
numbers and brave action. The men though they had prevailed
had suffered in equal numbers. Those who survived stood for
now, exhausted yet victorious. The creatures lay about the ground
dead and dying still clinging tightly onto their weapons. Their
victory had came at a heavy cost for

Included among this number was Grunhuf, who sustained a superficial blow to the head. The wound looked far more serious
than it was as blood streamed down over his face. Landaus had
found him knocked unconscious and bloody, but very much alive.
Grunhuf who fancied himself a swordsman had gotten involved
and now found himself among the wounded. He was however
lucky though he would not admit it, as Ananda had saved his life
at least once during the height of the close contact fighting.
Among the others, nearly all had been wounded in some fashion,
of these five were dead outright and thirteen had sustained mortal
wounds. The rest would limp back to Baldur to fight another day.

As the last of the fog had lifted Ananda returned toward where
the men had assembled. He was quite a sight to behold. His long
dark hair and his silk robes were drenched in their coagulated
blood. The whites of his eyes seemed to glow from behind the
curtain of gore that he wore like a veil. He stood before them and
sheathed his sword. "Do you believe me now? These creature that
we defeated here today will become unstoppable en mass. We
must prepare for the inevitable." All but the youngest of the fighters were doubled over in a combination of exhaustion, anxiety
and exhilaration for being alive. This was for most a baptism of
fire. They had fought hard for their very lives and for the most
part survived it.

Landaus ordered some of the troopers who had been trained in
first aid to set up a makeshift triage inside the gondola of the airship. Grunhuf who had by now awakened had been wounded only slightly joined to help as these men carried thewounded back
aboard the ship. The remaining able bodied men then began a
careful search of the landing site. There about were crates of varying sizes marked with strange unreadable lettering. Abruptly
their movements stopped as before them appeared a deep gash in
the earth. They came to recognize they were lookingupon a newly excavated trench. Landaus estimated by eye the dimensions to
be roughly, two meters wide, one meter deep, by perhaps a hundred meters long. Landaus commenting on his observations said,
"Our friends have been busy. By the looks of things it appears
like we caught them in the midst of something. There is no
doubt in my mind that this trench has been excavated for the obvious purpose of burying this cargo for safe keeping. Now let's
see what's so important that they would need to bury it here far
on a hillside."

They thought it logical to check first within the ship. They did
not know what they might find, so with arms ready they moved
toward it. In hushed tones Ananda noted to Landaus, "This ship
can not be the one that crashed, this one is intact, and it's not
even damaged."

"I agree it certainly is not. The one we found was shattered and
flattened. This one came to a perfect three point landing. Landaus and Ananda cautiously walked up the metal ramp that protruded downward at angle of forty five degrees frombelow the
open hatchway. Once at the doorway, Landaus was careful as
he tilted his head inside. Satisfied there would be no sudden surprises, they entered into the long cylindrical fuselage of the ship.
For a quiet moment the men with weapons ready, searched up
and down the length of the ship for they could not be sure if
some one had stayed behind to protect the cargo within. One by
one the teams reported back that there was no one else aboard.

As the others checked for stragglers Ananda followed the dull
sound of plasma motors that grew louder as he advanced down
toward what he perceived to be the forward section. Soon he
found himself inside what he imagined to be the vehicles nerve
center. There he saw a control panel bristling with lights and
switches. Behind which there were arranged a pair of a pilot's
seats. The engines were still running and the indicator board's
lights were blinking go. He ran his hand over the controls fooling with some of the toggles and switches. Strangely he seemed
to intuitively understand their mechanisms.

Landaus along with the other men was examining the remainder
of the ship. With a hand held recording device he began to dictate a description of what he now saw there withinthe cylinder.
"Here along the walls of the interior were arranged the niches in
which the creature must have used to secure themselves during
flight. There seems to be a seating capacity for thirty six individuals. However they could fit many more if need be in the center.
What is currently here arranged is a collection of items that must
be weapons, the likes of which I have never before seen. Some
appeared to be guns of a sort, while others were obviously bladed
weapons of all varieties. There are no other supplies present such
as food and water." Ananda returned to join the others but Landaus had not noticed his arrival there. Ananda interrupted his dictation and said "To what conclusions are your assumptions leading you to? I am of the opinion that what we have discovered
here is not a raiding party. This is more likely an intelligence or
logistics team. We caught them in the act of embedding a strategic weapons cache. They truly are as shrewd as they are brave."
He paused a moment to catch his breath and to contemplate the
fates of those dead and dying strewn there about the hillside. He
dropped the one sword he still held onto the floor and continued.
"It truly was a brilliant stroke of luck to be so sheathed in a blanket of fog as we were. I can only imagine how different our results may have been if they had not been surprised so. We can
however be thankful that we need no longer to question the truth.
It lays here about us. They are already planning the coming battle. We have been fortunate to land here and find what we have
found. They will not now, be able to use these weapons against
us. May the Gods be willing to see our continued good fortune? If
it is his will, we may yet use these weapons against our enemies."

Landaus turned off his device and responded, “That of course remains to be seen. We'll have to get this lot back to the citadel
first. I fear however that if we don't move off this hill soon, we
may not get back before we lose the light. Darkness will make
dangerous of our descent."

"We'd better get a move on then. Oh there is one more thing.
Landaus you can go on without me in the Airship I will be piloting this vessel myself."

Landaus paused for a moment and contemplated his predicament. He did not like the Idea but what else could be done? "If
you think you can fly it ? Alright Ananda bring it home in one
piece. Good luck." Landaus exited the ship then set himself to
task. He Split the men into details and their orders were given.
One group was ordered to collect the remaining cargo on the
ground and begin to load it into the airship's hold. The others
were sent to locate and prepare the crashed ship. Ananda having
some familiarity with the ships systems would stay back to prep
the intact alien vessel for its return trip to Baldur.

Ibsen having witnessed the bloody melee now then felt it safe
enough to come down from his hiding place. He wandered carefully from the ship to where the men had gathered. His heart
raced as he stepped bewildered over and between the shattered
bodies. He came upon the men of the guard from behind, as they
had been distracted with their plans. Landaus had not seen his
son approach. When he was in sight of those who faced him all
talk stopped and attention was drawn from their conversation
towards him. Landaus turned and was shocked to see his son
there among the carnage. He ran to him and then embraced him.
There would be time to scold him later. The sight of seeing him
there left him able only to protect and comfort him. Landaus
could not yet tell if his young son had in some way been traumatized by what he must have seen. "Ibsen, are you alright?" He
nodded his head to the affirmative then buried his head in his
father's chest and began sobbing. "However did you find this
place? Were you aboard the air ship?" He responded silently by
nodding his head that he had, and then he spoke. "I stowed away
outside of the airship" Landaus eyes widened and his voice rose
in both concern and anger. "Why do know how dangerous that
stunt was? You could have easily been killed. Do you know how
I would have felt if you had fallen to your death? I would ask
you; just what you think you are doing here?" He looked at his
son with a steely eyed glare as he awaited an answer. With a
new found pluck he tentatively spoke his mind.

"Father you have made a promise to me that my discovery,
would be just that. You seem to have given my possession to
these men without so much as a word to me, your son."

"Ibsen I told you when we took it off the beach that it was too
valuable for one man to hold. That is why it has been entrusted
to the government." Seeing he was hurt He put his hand on his
son's head and apologized. "I am sorry, for what it’s worth. But
you don't understand what we are up against. If that object out
there can help us then we can't afford not to use it." Looking
around he could see that all eyes were now on them. He suddenly
realized that they were making a spectacle having said more than
he wanted to, he would put an end to it. So then his tone changed
and he told him rather sternly "Now Ibsen I’ve said all I’m going
to on this now it is time that you do as you are told. So, I want
you on the deck of that gondola and find a spot. I want you to sit
there. Don’t you move one inch from this spot until we are in the
air. Do you understand me young man?" Seemingly Ibsen had
gotten the message for he nodded his understanding and without
another word spoken he made his way up the rope ladder.

Not long after Landaus had exited the vessel, Ananda returned to
the control center of the ship. He was alone on the ship and so
found the pilot's seat and sat down. He could not recall how or
why but it surprised him when he discovered that he somehow
possessed knowledge of this ship's workings. He intuitively ran
through the system checks as it he had done it before. It would
seem like an obvious conclusion he thought. He however could
not fathom a reason why or how he would have. One by one he
checked the switches and the each time he received an appropriate response from the computer.

From where Ibsen stood within the gondola he climbed up onto
the chair to take a look. There pressed against the glass he could
watch the goings on from the window. He held his breath as the
pilot made the difficult maneuver to reposition the ship over the
sight of the wreck. Only moments before it had been discovered
by the men, merely a few hundred yards from where they had
originally touched down. Once the ship was carefully positioned,
the crew busily lashed the main body of the wreck, securing it
tightly onto the makeshift frame. In brigade fashion, the remaining cargo that was on the ground was carried up and loaded into
the airship's cargo hold. By then it was now late in the afternoon
nearly evening when the guardsmen returned to the ship, their
energy all but spent from the previous fighting and their labor.
Aboard the ship most men collapsed exhausted to the floor. The
airship was unsecured from its moorings and the hovering motors
began to hum. The last to enter the ship just before liftoff was
Landaus. He had manned the ladder to guard against any unknown threats. The ship was now airborne. He rose up out of the
portal into the hold, shutting the door behind him. Once safely
aboard he stowed his gear and sat down in a vacantchair next
Ibsen. He put his arm around his son's shoulder and spoke to
him. "Ibsen if I spoke too sternly to you earlier, then I'm sorry.
It's just that since your mother passed it has been just you and I.
It has been difficult for me to balance my many responsibilities.
Beyond being your father there is much I am held accountable
for. So for the time being I think you should stay close to me, at
least till this situation sorts itself out. Would that be alright with
you?" The boy still enthralled in the goings on around him nodded his head in agreement and said, "Yes Father." His attention
was otherwise tuned to the view outside. Staring downward he
watched as the ground below them slowly slipped away. Suddenly something else now entered his view. The boy turned to
his father excitedly and said, "Father the other ship, it is rising!"
Landaus turned and leaned down toward the window with his
son. While the airship steadily rose to a hovering height, they
watched through the window the alien ship struggling to match
its pace. "Why is it flying, so Father?" His father smiled and
said, "I think that's what's called pilot error."