Alien Alliance (18 page)

“Have you got enough cleanup
satellites?”

“My garbage disposers of space? Oh yes. They
will go up in a few days once most of the planes are shot down, to
clear the larger debris. We can’t have incriminating debris and we
must reduce the collision risk to the orbiting Flying Fortresses
and the planes. The Fortresses have shields which cope with space
debris but they will incur a huge power drain if they have to be
run on full power continually. I’ll put them up until the bulk of
the debris left is safe, then recall them before the troopships
leave. I’ll order them up again for a few days before we leave.
These latest ones are much bigger with massive arms extending
hundreds of feet, and with much bigger electromagnets. The
repellers are bigger too and redirect much more debris down to the
planet and into the sea. Re-entry alone will finish the task for
most of the smaller pieces. These satellites will continue working
until the last moment, sweeping in overlapping orbits. They are
very expensive but we do need them on these little ventures. This
must just look like a very well-equipped pirate force. Which it
isn’t. Without evidence little can be said and hopefully nothing.
Few challenge the Keulfyd.”

Lijfomid munched and watched as battle
continued. No opposition. Good odds.

Li, Stella, Mahmoud and Donny, who had not
been sick, hastily completed the task of writing down what they had
eaten the night before. They had made plans yesterday to go
exploring today but Li and Stella had been up until the wee hours
helping Kelly with the sick. Li was startled at the expectation of
Kelly and Stella that she would help. Li was, however, up to the
challenge, finding Stella a good teacher. All were still keen to go
to Donny’s relief; he had had enough of working for Helkmid and
wanted a day off. They waited for Mahmoud and he soon came running
over yelling, “I can come! Mum’s taking the girls to the caves.
Yippee! A day off babysitting.”

Yogabala heard. She looked at her mother,
offended. Rani smiled. “You know he loves you. But sometimes he
just wants time with his friends. I think that’s fair, don’t you?”
She looked fondly after him. He was a good kid, gangly, going to be
tall like his father, maybe taller. And so good with his sisters.
He had somehow managed to combine the best qualities of his parents
having his father’s quick brain but her love of people. People
liked him. Gifted, he had floated through life, found school easy,
somehow never seemed to get really upset or into any trouble. He
was cheerful, had many friends, life was easy for him. He was
brilliant with gadgets and new technology. It was always Mahmoud,
not Ali, who set up new equipment. Typical male; he never read
instructions saying he didn’t need to. Sometimes she worried about
what he would do if he found something he failed at. To her
knowledge, it hadn’t happened yet.

The kids had decided to go exploring. They
quickly headed up into the hills behind the city. They had some
water with them and had all eaten a hearty breakfast of a strong
tasting fish with goop, made into a patty. The cooks were
experimenting although they had had fewer to cook for this morning…
The kids paused at the top of a rise and decided to head up into
the trees.

Mahmoud’s eyes gleamed as he looked up at
the trees, “Race you,” he yelled and headed up to the tallest one
he could see. He climbed at his usual speed; flat out.

“What a view,” said Stella who had always
loved climbing trees. She was just below him. Donny was next, then
Li, struggling a bit but determined not to be left behind. Li was
the smallest, then Donny, then Stella. Mahmoud was the tallest. He
seemed to be fastest at everything; running, climbing, thinking,
talking and eating. The others noted he seemed to live life flat
out.

Stella seemed always to be next. Donny
thought she was very competitive and very bright. Li was the oldest
but the smallest. The others noted that she didn’t seem to mind
either of those. She just plodded along.

Donny wasn’t quite sure what to make of Li.
She looked like a tiny porcelain doll with a flawless complexion
but often had a steely glint in her eyes. He had the vague idea
that he wouldn’t want to annoy her. She was very bright and another
fast thinker. He noted she often thought about the wider
ramifications of things. His grandfather had done that too.

There was nothing hidden about Stella. He
definitely wouldn’t cross her. She was a strong character and he
thought she probably could be bossy. He liked her though. He had
the distinct feeling that she knew she was bossy and tried not to
be. He had the feeling life had not been easy for Stella, he wasn’t
sure why but his instincts were usually right. He was puzzled by
her looks too. She looked vaguely Asian but her hair was brown, not
black. He’d like to ask about that but thought he’d hold off for a
while.

Mahmoud was also evaluating the others.
Donny, he instinctively liked. He sensed he was the loyal type and
he seemed to strive not to hurt people. Donny said what he meant
too. One funny thing was that Donny was very good looking but it
seemed to embarrass him. They shared another thing; Donny liked
people and it showed.

Mahmoud hated gossipers and kids that were
hurtful and bullying. He loved to undermine them and play nasty
tricks on them like they did to their victims. He ensured he didn’t
get caught though. None of these three seemed to be in this
category. This was very important to Mahmoud. He could not
understand kids that hurt others. He thought something was very
wrong with them.

Li and Stella, he took an immediate liking
to. One fault he admitted to, he didn’t associate with people who
weren’t bright. He had been called an intellectual snob and he knew
there was some truth in this. He couldn’t see the point in
associating with others unless they were smart. They would have no
common ground. The girls were very bright, though not as bright as
him, he thought. But then few were. He had gotten used to that.
They also were not the underhanded type he thought. He couldn’t
imagine either hurting anyone unless they deserved it. This was
really important to Mahmoud. There were so many people in the world
who were parasites or who used or hurt other people.

Mahmoud kept going till he was nearly thirty
feet up before he slowed. “Not the best trees I’ve climbed,” he
said, “peculiar aren’t they?” he looked around. The tree had tubes
instead of leaves and they were a greenish yellow…or more a
yellowish green. They had brown things on them and he had a look at
one but it was too hard to open. Nuts? Seeds? He wondered.

The four meandered away the day, talking,
looking for things to eat and talking some more. They discussed
what they wanted as careers. Stella said “I’m going to be a doctor.
I don’t know where I’m going to train yet. Mum came up with a good
idea. She thinks I can get a special grant because I’m Native
American. There’s been a lot of push on the government since the
law got thrown out that you had to be full blooded for lots of
things. I only have to prove one parent is registered as an Indian.
It will pay my tuition fees and a basic living allowance.”

That answered Donny’s puzzle. He hadn’t
guessed that but now he could see she did look American Indian. The
others looked at her in envy and Stella smiled. Li also had thought
Stella looked part Asian. But she was darker skinned than Li.

Li said, “I’m going to be a vet. My
grandparents left me some money for tuition and Mum and Dad will
top it up. I’ll pay them back.”

Donny said, “I’m not sure what I want to be
but I’ll get most of my tuition paid for too. I inherited most of
my grandfather’s estate, including his house. That’s rented at the
moment.”

“How come you got it and not your
parents?”

“My grandfather brought me up, mostly. And
then I looked after him. He didn’t want to go to a rest home. He
adored me and I adored him. He said my parents were too self
absorbed to look after me either as a kid or after. His will wasn’t
very polite in parts.”

“Did you read it?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not sure what I’m after,” said Mahmoud.
“And my parents aren’t rich. I’ll have to get a scholarship. I want
a job in electronics. Ideally, I want to be an inventor. Or a job
like Akira’s would be heaps of fun.”

“What does he do?” Asked Donny.

“He’s a retro-engineer. He works mostly with
electronic stuff at the moment.”

“What’s a retro-engineer?” Asked Li,
puzzled.

“He gets given new stuff and he takes it to
pieces and figures out how it works. Then he re-invents it. He
often improves it.”

“That sounds like stealing,” said Li
slowly.

“Well yes, a bit I guess. I think the law is
that you can patent something as yours if you alter it by about
20%. But look what fun you’d have here! And I’ve done that all my
life. I’m good at it too! I wish I could get my hands on a local
rubbish dump. Anyone seen one?”

A chorus of no’s came back.

“Well if you see one tell me. People throw
all sorts of stuff out that I can fix. I pulled my first TV to bits
when I was eight and mostly got it back together.”

“Mostly,” Stella laughed.

“By the time I was ten I was fixing TV’s,”
he said.

The others wondered if he was serious but he
sounded it.

They wandered around looking at the plants.
They were all so different. But there were no birds here and that
seemed weird. They saw heaps of insects though, a lot of
butterfly-type things in a huge variety of colours and sizes and
lizard like things.

“But where’s all the native animals?”
Queried Stella. “All I have seen is insects, balloons and plants,
apart from the domesticated animals. This is so puzzling. Do the
animals live further away from the cities?”

They were all fascinated by the fencing
system. There was no one around so they had a hilarious time moving
the stock around but they ensured they didn’t mix any up. By this
time, they had got back near the tree line. They decided to climb a
tree again to check where they were Mahmoud in the lead as
usual.

Stella climbed up beside him, continuing to
look around at the view. She stood in a fork in the tree while
Mahmoud sat nonchalantly on a branch, about 40 feet off the ground,
looking completely at home. Donny looked up and smiled,
“Smartass.”

Li finally got nearby and stopped to look
around. Something caught her eye and she looked up, “Hey look,” she
pointed. The others looked up seeing what looked like an explosion
high up in the sky.

Mahmoud looked puzzled and looked around.
But there were no more. After a few minutes the talk turned to how
they could make money.

“Anna and Steve have promised that all the
money they earn will go to paying for other people,” said Li.
“Steve told the Priskya he could design a better sub for them. One
that was self propelled. The Priskya were very excited and keen to
pay good money for this. That’s really nice of them, Donny,” she
said wondering if that remark in the will about self absorbed had
sparked this off. “Sarah wants to get her and Helene to sort out
how to sell some of the stuff we all bought. She wants everyone to
hand over all their favourite food. Jewellery also. Apparently it
can be valuable. She is suggesting that we pool everything and
start to pay a bit off everyone’s debt. That should stop anyone
ending up a slave. Anyone got any good ideas?”

“Who can sing?” Asked Stella.

“Me. Soprano, answered Li seriously.”

“I can, tenor,” said Donny.”

“Me too. Baritone I guess.”

“Well that makes me four. And I’m alto. So
how’s that for a good idea?” They all smiled.

“I like the idea of earning money from
playing,” said Mahmoud. “Stella’s good with that guitar. I can play
the piano but I forgot to bring it,” he laughed tipping his head up
then his mouth opened in shock. The others looked up. “Look at
that. It’s huge!” he stared aghast at the gigantic spaceship slowly
passing overhead. It dwarfed a cruise liner! It was mostly
battleship grey but parts of it were in other colours. The hull
looked fairly smooth and he noticed various bulges and things
sticking out in places but streamlined like appendages on a car. It
was shaped like a very fat cigar underneath but he wondered what it
looked like from other angles.

Then, while they were commenting, five ships
appeared to come out of it and lined up in a formation beside each
other. “They’re not going to the spaceport,” he said puzzled, and
watched as the ships came down towards them. Suddenly, he saw them
all start to pour smoke out behind. “It’s an air display.” He
yelled, “The other kids will be so mad they missed this,” he said
thinking of his family down the caves.

They all stared, fascinated as the planes
slowly flew over the city, the smoke trailing behind. They reached
the ocean, stopped the smoke, and two went one way and three the
other as they climbed up behind the city, reformed into formation,
and again moved down towards the city. The smoke poured out from
behind them. They were moving more towards the centre of the city
this time.

“Look, there’s some of the Hoekfyds,” Li
yelled as she pointed to the Avians. They were a Race that looked a
bit like very large parrots, they were dark green in colour and had
hooked beaks. Stella reckoned they looked like huge Kea, a
mischievous native parrot of New Zealand. The Clets were white and
looked sort of like giant cranes with pink beaks. They were flying
up from their settlement just above the city. As they watched, they
split up and went in all directions into the surrounding hills.

“Here they come again,” Mahmoud yelled as
the planes came towards them. He watched as the smoke poured out
again making a beautiful display. It was pure white. As the planes
passed overhead, the smoke missed them going beside them. It seemed
to be heavy and sank quickly to the ground but it was flowing down
the hill just a few feet below and to their left. “Race you,”
Mahmoud yelled and he and Donny climbed and slid down the tree
towards the smoke. It had a funny smell.