Government Men by Gary J. Davies
CHAPTER 38
BATTLE OF THE ONE TREE
The soldier, above all other men, is required to perform the highest act of religious teaching - - sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death he discloses those divine attributes which his maker gave him when he created man in his own image.
- General Douglas McArthur
Led by Pru, the return to the Bus began with a pleasant enough walk through an incredible portion of The Land along a well maintained network of stone footpaths. Other than the limited views from vicinity of the cabin, this was the best opportunity that the Team had to view the Land's wonders in daylight.
Despite experiences on many other worlds, even Wink and Krog were astonished by what they saw. At several points an excited Wink gibbered incomprehensibly in what was apparently his native tongue, while the equally demonstrative Krog gave out great, bull-frog like croaks.
Their path followed a shallow valley lined with grass and flowers of every description, through which the little stream they had first seen near the cabin flowed. Gigantic, magnificent trees rose on each side of the glen on gently rolling hills, and the entire vibrant Land was teeming with wildlife. Colorful insects and chattering birds filled the air, and mice, squirrels, raccoons, deer and other animals went about their business, while totally ignoring the humans.
The Land was seen to abound with sentient People also, now that the Team had been accepted by the Council. Dozens of them gathered along the path to get a look at the Team as they passed. There were People of all the races represented on the High Council, including several huge giants, but there were others too, including winged horses, short, heavily muscled dwarves, tiny, winged faire folk, and one massive individual of unsurpassed hideousness that simply had to be an ogre. Many gave warm greetings to the visitors, sometimes telepathically, but others greeted Pru respectfully and simply stared at the Team members.
"We seem to be something of an attraction," remarked Bates.
"Well," explained Fen, "you are rather odd and unusual, by our standards. Other than Gus and our friends from Goth Mountain, you are the first humans to enter The Land in many centuries. And of course Krog and Wink are even more extraordinary. Besides, understand that very few inhabitants of The Land ever leave it to see the outside world. Shape shifters like me and some unicorns are unusual in that respect; most would not dream of ever leaving The Land, even temporarily. They aren't used to the unusual."
"What is Goth Mountain and who are the people that are being fetched from there to join our party?" Bates asked Pru.
"That is a question with a complex answer, human, but one that I will answer now in part," replied the unicorn. "Goth Mountain is a very special place where live very special humans that are friends and allies of The People and The Land. They will have heard of some which you have told us and will doubtless wish to help thwart the plans of the Ra."
"Wait!" exclaimed Mel. "Goth is the name of that amateur physicist from Oregon Mark Goth who came up with remarkable physics theories only a year ago! Is there a connection?"
"There is indeed," replied Pru. "Mark is father to Johnny Goth, who will be with us shortly, along with his good friend the shaman Dooley Simple."
"It's a small world after all," noted Bates. "I remember now! There was a news story out of Oregon a year or two back, about the Goth family and their tribal friends saving their Goth Mountain trees from being cut down. It was all over the COM for maybe a week."
The unicorn snorted. "There was more publicity than we wished, but fortunately the story was vague and faded away quickly."
While they continued to walk, outgoing young Elizabeth took the initiative in asking Pru, Fen, and Gus many more questions. Most of the rest of the Team, and in particular the scientists, hung on every word of the exchange. "That's not the sky up there, is it? What is it then? Is it something magic?” Elizabeth asked.
Pru gave a little whinny/laugh that reminded her listeners of a host of bell chimes ringing in the breeze. "One people's magic is another’s everyday experience, little one. From what Gus and our Goth Mountain friends have told us of the scientific capability of your people, you humans might perhaps one day soon explain how we manage our Land better than we, after only a few decades more of study. A long answer would involve a discussion of force fields and multi-dimensions. The short answer to your question though, in terms you can more readily understand, is that what you see is a magic dome over the Land that lets in only sunshine.”
"What powers the magic?" asked Elizabeth.
"All sentient residents of the Land take turns contributing psychic energy as they can," explained Pru. "It is collected using the One Tree root system."
"Unicorns of course ultimately channel the energy collected by the One Tree," added Fen, as if he were stating something obvious.
"I don't understand the physics," stated Mel. "The science of our world does not seem to support what you are suggesting."
Pru whinney-laughed. "You are correct; it isn't understandable from a single universe standpoint," human. "Within each universe the rules are strict. Your job as a scientist is to discover those rules. But using certain structures and behaviors other universes can be reached such that the usual rules can be broken in one's own dominant universe. The result is what you humans call magic or psychic phenomena. In this case The People have learned how to acquire the energies needed to maintain the dome and a slight dimensional separation from your world."
This prompted questions from Norma Carbuncle. "But you and the other citizens don't even seem to be thinking about the dome! How is this magic force maintained and controlled when the contributing sentient People go about their other business?"
"After long years we all contribute to our permanent energy collection system almost habitually," explained Pru. "The People routinely focus on the One Tree. Unicorns take turns controlling what is done with the collected energy. Much of the collected energy is directed by them to maintaining the dome.”
"Is it the dome that protects us from the Great One's dreams?" asked Elizabeth.
"Yes, small one, though the dome also protects us against things such as prying eyes, intruders, winter cold, and summer heat. It is we unicorns that provide shelter from the Great One's dreams. That is perhaps our greatest gift. Without unicorns there could be no Land."
"Why can you do it, and not others?" asked Elizabeth.
"It is because like the Great One, unicorns too are a far more different form of life than other life on Earth. Gus and the Goths call us elementals. We are different from others in The Land, far more different than we appear to be judging from appearance alone.”
"Aye, lass," interjected Gus. "And that's an understatement. Of all the unusual folk here about, the unicorns are indeed the strangest, and the most wondrous by far. So you’ve been bit with the curiosity bug have yea? Lass, I can tell you things that'll turn yer notions of what's what upside down, inside-out and topsy-turvy! I’ve started a study, you know, with the collaboration of my human friends the Goths and the Simples!”
While the discussion was going on, several of the Team members were looking about for evidence of a power collection and distribution system, but saw nothing. There were no visible power lines or antenna. In fact, other than the rudimentary cabin they had spent the night in, the Team had seen no evidence of technology of any sort. "What is the energy distribution system that you spoke of?" asked Norma.
Just then a strange thing happened. Several of the largest trees in the grove nearest the group suddenly shook as though from a great impact, and dozens of leaves fluttered to the ground. At the same time, a low moaning sound seemed to erupt from all directions, as though the whole Land itself was in pain! Moments later, the Team members realized it was not actual sound, but telepathic or empathic thought that broadcasted pain so great that even the humans sensed it.
"THE ONE TREE IS UNDER ATTACK!” pathed Pru, loudly. She snorted and stomped her hooves aggressively, and looked all around. <
br />
Several nearby citizens of the Land rushed to Pru's side apprehensively. "Who? Where?" asked Fen. "The One Tree has not been attacked in millennia!”
"Exactly what is the One Tree?" asked Bates.
"It's the interconnected giant Aspen that lives throughout The Land," explained Pru. "It provides the path through which we project the dome and shelter our Land, and it provides paths to the outside world as well.” The One Tree shuddered again, and seemed to sag, and the 'dome' above their head 'blinked' out of existence for just a fraction of a second, revealing the Sun and a clear blue sky!
"The sky is clear! The snow storm is over already!” exclaimed Steve Latanna.
Bates had a very bad feeling about all of this. "Is the Aspen sheltering the Bus part of the One Tree?" he asked.
"Yes, of course, human," said Pru.
Bates and Mel looked at each other. "The Bus!” said Mel.
"It’s the Ra!” cried Bates. "The Ra must be attacking the Bus! And your One Tree!”
The tree(s) shook again.
"THE DEFENSE COMMITTEE WILL REPORT TO ME," pathed Pru, so loudly that many standing nearby grabbed their heads in pain. "ALL OTHERS IN THE LAND ARE TO FOCUS POWERS INTO THE ONE TREE.” Citizens of The Land in view of the Team rushed to the trunk or root of the One Tree nearest them and placed hands, hooves, or whatever against it. Even in the light of day the light colored Aspen bark seemed to take on a glow, and the branches lost some of their sag.
The Team, joined now by an Ogre, another unicorn, and several fairies, rushed towards the towering solid granite rock-face that marked the boundary of The Land. Without a pause, they all plunged into the solid rock. The Team was whisked along rapidly through the rock by their powerful friends.
The thick glowing tube they had followed the night before through the mountain was now almost too bright to look at as they streaked along it towards the outside world. It was only at this point that Bates realized that the tube was actually a gigantic root of the One-Tree, along which now surged enormous energy from The Land.
For one terrifying moment the root blinked as the dome had earlier, and they all seemed to freeze motionless in the darkness. Bates could feel the rock of the mountain solidifying around and within him. It was a frightening sensation, accompanied as it was by the realization that they could easily all end up dead and frozen permanently inside the mountain. A moment later however, they were once again whisking through the mountain with desperate speed.
Only a few seconds after their strange trip began, the group abruptly popped out of the rock near the trunk of the big Utah Aspen that they all now knew to be part of the One Tree.
The air was hot and tinged with smoke, and singed leaves fell to the ground all around them by the thousands. Looking up, the entire sky seemed to be filled with the titanic Mother Ship of the Ra. The ship glowed and throbbed like a huge, overpowered florescent light bulb as it hung motionless in the sky. As Bates watched, the air around the ship suddenly shimmered and a five-meter wide plasma beam shot out from the ship towards the Bus, which still sat as they had left it, apparently unharmed. When the beam reached a scant dozen meters from the Bus it suddenly began to fragment and spread out over a momentarily visible barrier that extended over both the tree and the Bus.
The noise of this artificial lightning was so defining it knocked Bates and his fellow humans off their feet, and a new shower of singed Aspen leaves fluttered to the ground under the Tree. A continuous plasma beam now struck down towards the Bus, a beam that surged a-periodically with, bright, thunderous blasts.
"What should we do?" shouted Mel.
"We can't lose the Bus!” Bates shouted back. "We'd never manage the mission without it. Flood! Can we fire back at them?”
"We can try," said Flood.
"To the Bus!” shouted Bates, and the Team ran towards the besieged Bus, while Pru and her people remained huddled around the Tree.
The Team must have been seen by the Ra, because now another plasma blast struck down towards those that were running towards the Bus. This beam was also stopped by the barrier from the One Tree, but the impact of the blast against the protective force-field still knocked Team members off their feet.
Not counting Milo, Flood reached the Bus first, and he immediately began to power up all Bus systems. "Our shields are up," announced Norma. "But that's just emergency back-up for what the Tree is providing. I don't think that our Bus shields or deteriorating plastic armor would last for a moment in that Ra plasma beam.”
"When can we fire on them?" asked Bates.
"I'm not sure that we can," said Norma. "The Tree's shield might prevent it."
"I'll ask Pru," said Gus. The little ex-biologist closed his eyes in concentration. Bates 'heard' nothing in his head; maybe he was too far away from Pru, but Gus seemed to actually communicate with The People.
"Norma is right," announced Gus, after a few seconds. "If you fire now, you'll just be helping the Ra to blast through the Tree's shield. But if Pru drops the Tree's field, with the Ra's beam still on, we'll all be cinders in seconds. Oh, and Pru asks if we know how long the Ra can keep this up. Pru thinks that the Tree's field can hold for another 10 or 20 minutes tops.”
"I have no idea," said Carbuncle. "I don't even know how their ship is powered."
"We know," said Wink, standing next to the nodding Kronan. "Based on our knowledge of the usual Ra space craft design, Krog and I estimate that the Ra ship could continue this attack continuously for approximately sixty Earth years."
Bates started to say 'Fudge Winkies', but just then another plasma surge from the Ra ship burst over the Bus and everyone was knocked off their feet again.
"What if we just make a break for it?" asked Barns.
"Wink!” said Flood. "How fast can the Ra ship travel in the atmosphere, and how well can it maneuver?”
"It can probably travel only ten times the speed of sound when in your atmosphere; and it can accelerate to that in perhaps five of your seconds.”
"Damn!” responded Flood. "That's out then! We can't out-run them, but we can't just sit here either and wait for them to burn through to us!”
"Not only that, lad," added Gus. "It's not just the Bus and its mission at stake. Perhaps that ship could turn its ray on The Land itself and turn the whole thing to cinders once they overpower the defense of The One Tree."
"Well then," said Bates, "we somehow have to go on the offensive, it's our only hope.”
Pru and her countrymen must have came to the same conclusion, because suddenly the Ogre stepped away from the tree, picked up a huge boulder, and flung it at the Ra ship! Amazingly, it struck the ship with enough impact to actually disrupt the Ra attack; the ship shuttered slightly, and the plasma beam stopped. Those in the Bus and under the Tree cheered, but the disruption was only momentary. When the attack resumed, only a small beam was directed at the Bus, while the major beam was now directed at the One Tree. The Ra had correctly deduced that destruction of the Tree would ensure destruction of all else.
The ogre heaved a second boulder up at the attackers, but this one was blasted to bits by a separate plasma beam before it could reach the ship. Several others stepped out from the tree, including Pru, who pointed her horn at the ship. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then the Bus onlookers noticed that the barely visible surface of the Tree’s protective force field seemed to be reaching out towards the ship like a gigantic hand! Sure enough, the ship suddenly lurched away by several hundred meters, as though it had been given a mighty push. At the same time, the Ogre hurled a third boulder. This one got through and struck the ship. Once again the effect was only temporary, though it was several seconds before the Ra resumed their attack on the Bus and the One Tree.
"I've got an idea!” said Bates. "We need to coordinate our attack with that of Pru. If they can get the Ra to stop the plasma beam for a few seconds again, Pru could drop the One Tree's field that protects the Bus for a few seconds while we fire. Gus, could Pru
use telepathy with Flood to coordinate an attack?”
"Yes Dr. Bates," pathed Pru. This time, Pru, the Ogre, a Giant, and the Bus struck almost simultaneously. However, the laser and plasma blasts from the Bus were pitifully weak compared to the attack of the Ra, and appeared to do no damage at all to the massive space ship.
They repeated their coordinated attack again and again, each time only delaying what increasingly seemed would be inevitable defeat. Three ogres and two giants were now hurling boulders, but the Ra ship was simply too powerful; most of the boulders were blasted to dust before they reached the ship, while the few that got through appeared to do no lasting damage.
Meanwhile, the Ra ship attacked tirelessly. Blackened leaves by the thousands rained from the One Tree, and The People grew weary providing energy, directing the protective shield, and throwing boulders. The Ra plasma blasts were starting to break through. The Bus's shield was strong enough to stop the weakened beams that struck it, but the top of the Tree actually caught fire!
A huge blast suddenly struck Pru, who was standing apart from the others. She was surrounded in glowing plasma for several seconds. However, when the blast was at last contained by the One Tree field, Pru still stood as before, white and flawless, apparently completely unharmed. The onlookers marveled. Elementals are certainly sturdy folk! Suddenly a blue beam of light shot from the unicorn’s horn and struck the Ra ship a mighty blow, blasting it back several meters and causing it to shutter. Pru had apparently absorbed some of the energy from the Ra ray and shot it back at them! Perhaps in response, the Ra redirected all attentions to the Tree and Bus.
The giants threw great handfuls of snow at the fire in the Tree in a desperate attempt to extinguish it. Soon the flames were out, but the tree still smoldered, filling the air with choking black smoke, and the plasma blasts once again were forcing their way towards the top of The Tree. Flood flew the Bus up next to The Tree top and reshaped the Bus shield to protect it as well as the Bus, while Pru reinforced the One Tree's protective field. As a result, the plasma blast was pushed a few meters further from the Tree. But everyone knew it wouldn't work for very long.
"We have no choice," said Bates. "We have to try to make a run for it. Maybe they'll simply chase us and at least let The Land survive!”
"Take Fen and myself with you," pathed Pru. "We can help protect the Bus.” The Bus landed and opened its doors, and Pru and Fen leapt aboard. Though the unicorn appeared immaculate as ever, Fen was covered with soot, and the foul air that came aboard with them was hot and smoky and smelled of death. They each positioned themselves in the isle behind Bates. Under Pru's silent direction several giants jointly threw a gigantic boulder at the ship. The Ra tried to blast it, but it was protected by an extension of the One Tree's protective shield until it reached the ship. With a crash that was heard even inside the Bus, the great Mother Ship was rocked by the blow, and the plasma streams stopped once again.
At that moment, Flood started humming The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the Bus shot up past the wobbling Ra space ship at full throttle. As they swept passed it, the Bus blasted away with lasers and plasma beams at the point that had just been struck by the boulder, and they were rewarded by an answering flash; perhaps an internal explosion.
They had wounded her! Bates would have shouted for joy, but the breath had already been knocked from him by the Bus's acceleration. However, he did hear someone shout 'Geronimo' loudly, and turned his head to find a grinning Goyahkla perched by his side! The famous Indian warrior seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this terrifying experience. And why not? He was already safely dead.
Flood had the Bus at full throttle for the first time. Everyone was knocked back in their seats, helpless, with the exception of Flood, who continued humming, Goyahkla, who was now chanting in Apache and beating tom-toms that had materialized in his hands, and Pru and Fen, who stood unaffected in the isle, as though ten-G acceleration was the most natural thing in the world to them.
They leveled off at 4000 meters and shot east towards Colorado. Flood hoped to lose their pursuers among the jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and soon they were dodging through ragged snow-capped peaks at breakneck speed.
"Bandit at nine O-clock high," cried Carbuncle, who had remembered to take her motion sickness pills and was in fighting form. Sure enough, there was the Ra ship, trailing a thin stream of smoke, but still out-flying the Bus as it closed in rapidly for the kill. Flood banked right sharply around a towering granite peak, but the Ra ship shot over the top of the peak and reappeared in front of them.
Flood flew straight at and then under the Ra ship, hoping to get in too close for it to fire, but the tactic failed. The Bus windshields darkened instantly, but the brief plasma blast that swept them still nearly blinded everyone in the Bus. The Bus was rocked but was still flying. Bates looked in back of him and saw that Pru and Fen were both glowing bluish for a few moments. Exactly what they had done, he wasn't sure, but they must have absorbed some of the blast themselves, somehow helped to deflect it, or both. In any case, with the help of Pru and Fen the Bus had evidently just survived a full plasma blast.
Flood popped off his visor. His VR visor capability was gone; the plasma blast had destroyed the optical and infrared detectors that fed it. He would have to pilot using raw visual. And pilot he did, whipping around another icy peak at impossible speed!
Suddenly, the Ra ship was beside them. Flood tried to shoot up over it, and he let loose a laser blast that hit it dead center. But the feeble Bus laser again had no apparent effect, and the Ra ship matched their maneuver almost perfectly as it shot another massive plasma blast of its own.
As before, the singed Bus was rocked but remained flying. Pru and Fen again glowed brilliantly, but this time the little Pan goat-man sunk to his knees, and even the unicorn was unsteady on her feet. Somehow they were protecting the Bus, but were reaching the limit of their powers.
As Flood dove through a narrow canyon, he stopped humming and turned to look Bates in the eyes. Bates didn't need to be telepathic to know what he was thinking. Another blast or two and they would all be dead.
There was only one thing to do.
Bates nodded his head grimly. "Let's take them with us if we can, Commander," he said. Flood resumed his humming as he blasted straight up one more time at full acceleration. As he anticipated, the Ra were taken by surprise; the Bus was kilometers above them by the time they turned upwards in pursuit.
Bates turned and twisted around in his seat to look back towards the row of seats behind his. Returning his stare were Mel and Janet, his best friend and his once and only true love. He slipped his left arm out of its restraints and reached back towards Janet, who reached forward to grasp his hand tightly in return.
A thousand thoughts were rushing through his mind. How he and the Team had failed the mission. How he had failed at his life. How he had failed all life on Earth. The Earth as they knew it would come to an end in less than four days, but within moments they, the last hope for Earth, would die. They would try to take these Ra with them, but that would be an almost meaningless gesture. Earth would still be destroyed by Dannos.
Strangely enough though, with the entire Earth facing destruction, what he regretted most at that moment was not being with Janet these last twenty years. Lost, wasted years. And looking now into her sad eyes, he thought that he sensed that she also had regrets, though he couldn't be sure.
Then, incredibly, he watched her silently mouth the words ‘I love you’! The amazement must have shown on his face, but she nodded her head, squeezed his hand tighter, and actually smiled!
And Bates smiled back. Nothing could negate this moment, he knew, not even death. His had been a good life after all!
Aided by gravity Flood started his power dive towards the rapidly rising Ra ship. He would try to surprise the Ra one last time. He wandered if the Ra had learned the game of 'chicken' during their study of human culture. If not, he would teach them now.
/> Suddenly, a motion to the left of the Ra ship caught his eye. It was another ship, large compared to the Bus, though small, compared to the great Ra Mother Ship, closing on the Ra! As he watched, a powerful plasma blast from the newcomer flashed through the sky and caught the Ra squarely!
The Ra ship shuttered, but continued up towards the Bus. Flood continued his power dive, but by now had already changed his tactical plan. Instead of trying to ram the Ra ship, he would blast it as he swept by it! Meanwhile the newcomer paced the Ra, blasting away as it went. The blasts appeared to be very powerful, much like those that the Ra ship itself produced.
As the Bus drew nearer, Flood confirmed the identity of the new ship, and got on the radio. "George? Is that you?" he asked.
"Affirmative!” came the reply, over the radio. "This is Millennium Falcon, at your service, Commander!”
This time Flood himself yelled 'Geronimo', as he dove into the attack!
Bates, though he still held on to Janet's hand, returned his attention to the battle after hearing the unexpected exchange over the radio, and was amazed to see a new ship blasting at the Ra, a ship that bore a striking resemblance to one that had appeared in an old science fiction flick of several decades earlier. Seconds later, as the Bus swept past the Ra and sent out a blast of its own, he saw a thick plasma blast strike the Falcon squarely, but it seemed to do no harm. He wondered if the newcomers also had a unicorn on board.
However, the Ra ship was also not seriously harmed by the weapons used on it, for it still mostly ignored the Falcon, and was rapidly gaining on the Bus! As it came closer, it blasted the Bus from behind. The Bus shuddered, and Pru, dazed and glowing brightly, dropped to her knees on the floor next to Fen. She had contained the blast, but just barely!
With or without Pru's aid, one more blast would do it. Flood maneuvered violently, but the Ra ship stayed with his every move. Another blast from the Falcon struck the Ra ship, but with no apparent effect.
Bates held his breath. Any second now! One more blast from the Ra and they would all be toast. It would soon be all over. He again squeezed Janet’s hand tightly.
Abruptly, the Ra ship disappeared from the rear-view screen of Flood's console. "Shit, George!” swore Flood uncharacteristically, as he rapidly swung the Bus around.
Bates didn't understand what he was seeing at first; everything was different. Where was the Ra ship? Where was the Falcon? Outside, explosions lit the sky and rocked the Bus, and the air was filled with smoke and many flaming pieces of something falling towards the ground far below. "Was that the Ra ship?" he asked Flood.
"Damn it!” replied Flood angrily again, as he stabilized the flight of the Bus. Then he let out a deep sigh. "Yes, it was the Ra ship. But it was also the Falcon.”
Flood replayed the recorded rear-view in slow-motion, while everyone on the Bus had their eyes glued to a VISICOM. Sure enough, there was the image of the Falcon, barreling into the Ra ship, closing with it at Mach two or more. The Falcon had done exactly what Flood had planned to do only a minute earlier, and paid the ultimate price.
After a few moments of silence, Flood took another deep breath, wiped a tear away, and turned to Bates. "Where to, boss?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"Back to the One Tree for a short rest-stop, Commander," replied Bates wearily. "Then we'll be moving on. We have a mission to complete."
****
BATTLE OF THE ONE TREE
The soldier, above all other men, is required to perform the highest act of religious teaching - - sacrifice. In battle and in the face of danger and death he discloses those divine attributes which his maker gave him when he created man in his own image.
- General Douglas McArthur
Led by Pru, the return to the Bus began with a pleasant enough walk through an incredible portion of The Land along a well maintained network of stone footpaths. Other than the limited views from vicinity of the cabin, this was the best opportunity that the Team had to view the Land's wonders in daylight.
Despite experiences on many other worlds, even Wink and Krog were astonished by what they saw. At several points an excited Wink gibbered incomprehensibly in what was apparently his native tongue, while the equally demonstrative Krog gave out great, bull-frog like croaks.
Their path followed a shallow valley lined with grass and flowers of every description, through which the little stream they had first seen near the cabin flowed. Gigantic, magnificent trees rose on each side of the glen on gently rolling hills, and the entire vibrant Land was teeming with wildlife. Colorful insects and chattering birds filled the air, and mice, squirrels, raccoons, deer and other animals went about their business, while totally ignoring the humans.
The Land was seen to abound with sentient People also, now that the Team had been accepted by the Council. Dozens of them gathered along the path to get a look at the Team as they passed. There were People of all the races represented on the High Council, including several huge giants, but there were others too, including winged horses, short, heavily muscled dwarves, tiny, winged faire folk, and one massive individual of unsurpassed hideousness that simply had to be an ogre. Many gave warm greetings to the visitors, sometimes telepathically, but others greeted Pru respectfully and simply stared at the Team members.
"We seem to be something of an attraction," remarked Bates.
"Well," explained Fen, "you are rather odd and unusual, by our standards. Other than Gus and our friends from Goth Mountain, you are the first humans to enter The Land in many centuries. And of course Krog and Wink are even more extraordinary. Besides, understand that very few inhabitants of The Land ever leave it to see the outside world. Shape shifters like me and some unicorns are unusual in that respect; most would not dream of ever leaving The Land, even temporarily. They aren't used to the unusual."
"What is Goth Mountain and who are the people that are being fetched from there to join our party?" Bates asked Pru.
"That is a question with a complex answer, human, but one that I will answer now in part," replied the unicorn. "Goth Mountain is a very special place where live very special humans that are friends and allies of The People and The Land. They will have heard of some which you have told us and will doubtless wish to help thwart the plans of the Ra."
"Wait!" exclaimed Mel. "Goth is the name of that amateur physicist from Oregon Mark Goth who came up with remarkable physics theories only a year ago! Is there a connection?"
"There is indeed," replied Pru. "Mark is father to Johnny Goth, who will be with us shortly, along with his good friend the shaman Dooley Simple."
"It's a small world after all," noted Bates. "I remember now! There was a news story out of Oregon a year or two back, about the Goth family and their tribal friends saving their Goth Mountain trees from being cut down. It was all over the COM for maybe a week."
The unicorn snorted. "There was more publicity than we wished, but fortunately the story was vague and faded away quickly."
While they continued to walk, outgoing young Elizabeth took the initiative in asking Pru, Fen, and Gus many more questions. Most of the rest of the Team, and in particular the scientists, hung on every word of the exchange. "That's not the sky up there, is it? What is it then? Is it something magic?” Elizabeth asked.
Pru gave a little whinny/laugh that reminded her listeners of a host of bell chimes ringing in the breeze. "One people's magic is another’s everyday experience, little one. From what Gus and our Goth Mountain friends have told us of the scientific capability of your people, you humans might perhaps one day soon explain how we manage our Land better than we, after only a few decades more of study. A long answer would involve a discussion of force fields and multi-dimensions. The short answer to your question though, in terms you can more readily understand, is that what you see is a magic dome over the Land that lets in only sunshine.”
"What powers the magic?" asked Elizabeth.
"All sentient residents of the Land take turns contributing psychic energy as they can," explained Pru. "It is collected using the One Tree root system."
"Unicorns of course ultimately channel the energy collected by the One Tree," added Fen, as if he were stating something obvious.
"I don't understand the physics," stated Mel. "The science of our world does not seem to support what you are suggesting."
Pru whinney-laughed. "You are correct; it isn't understandable from a single universe standpoint," human. "Within each universe the rules are strict. Your job as a scientist is to discover those rules. But using certain structures and behaviors other universes can be reached such that the usual rules can be broken in one's own dominant universe. The result is what you humans call magic or psychic phenomena. In this case The People have learned how to acquire the energies needed to maintain the dome and a slight dimensional separation from your world."
This prompted questions from Norma Carbuncle. "But you and the other citizens don't even seem to be thinking about the dome! How is this magic force maintained and controlled when the contributing sentient People go about their other business?"
"After long years we all contribute to our permanent energy collection system almost habitually," explained Pru. "The People routinely focus on the One Tree. Unicorns take turns controlling what is done with the collected energy. Much of the collected energy is directed by them to maintaining the dome.”
"Is it the dome that protects us from the Great One's dreams?" asked Elizabeth.
"Yes, small one, though the dome also protects us against things such as prying eyes, intruders, winter cold, and summer heat. It is we unicorns that provide shelter from the Great One's dreams. That is perhaps our greatest gift. Without unicorns there could be no Land."
"Why can you do it, and not others?" asked Elizabeth.
"It is because like the Great One, unicorns too are a far more different form of life than other life on Earth. Gus and the Goths call us elementals. We are different from others in The Land, far more different than we appear to be judging from appearance alone.”
"Aye, lass," interjected Gus. "And that's an understatement. Of all the unusual folk here about, the unicorns are indeed the strangest, and the most wondrous by far. So you’ve been bit with the curiosity bug have yea? Lass, I can tell you things that'll turn yer notions of what's what upside down, inside-out and topsy-turvy! I’ve started a study, you know, with the collaboration of my human friends the Goths and the Simples!”
While the discussion was going on, several of the Team members were looking about for evidence of a power collection and distribution system, but saw nothing. There were no visible power lines or antenna. In fact, other than the rudimentary cabin they had spent the night in, the Team had seen no evidence of technology of any sort. "What is the energy distribution system that you spoke of?" asked Norma.
Just then a strange thing happened. Several of the largest trees in the grove nearest the group suddenly shook as though from a great impact, and dozens of leaves fluttered to the ground. At the same time, a low moaning sound seemed to erupt from all directions, as though the whole Land itself was in pain! Moments later, the Team members realized it was not actual sound, but telepathic or empathic thought that broadcasted pain so great that even the humans sensed it.
"THE ONE TREE IS UNDER ATTACK!” pathed Pru, loudly. She snorted and stomped her hooves aggressively, and looked all around. <
Several nearby citizens of the Land rushed to Pru's side apprehensively. "Who? Where?" asked Fen. "The One Tree has not been attacked in millennia!”
"Exactly what is the One Tree?" asked Bates.
"It's the interconnected giant Aspen that lives throughout The Land," explained Pru. "It provides the path through which we project the dome and shelter our Land, and it provides paths to the outside world as well.” The One Tree shuddered again, and seemed to sag, and the 'dome' above their head 'blinked' out of existence for just a fraction of a second, revealing the Sun and a clear blue sky!
"The sky is clear! The snow storm is over already!” exclaimed Steve Latanna.
Bates had a very bad feeling about all of this. "Is the Aspen sheltering the Bus part of the One Tree?" he asked.
"Yes, of course, human," said Pru.
Bates and Mel looked at each other. "The Bus!” said Mel.
"It’s the Ra!” cried Bates. "The Ra must be attacking the Bus! And your One Tree!”
The tree(s) shook again.
"THE DEFENSE COMMITTEE WILL REPORT TO ME," pathed Pru, so loudly that many standing nearby grabbed their heads in pain. "ALL OTHERS IN THE LAND ARE TO FOCUS POWERS INTO THE ONE TREE.” Citizens of The Land in view of the Team rushed to the trunk or root of the One Tree nearest them and placed hands, hooves, or whatever against it. Even in the light of day the light colored Aspen bark seemed to take on a glow, and the branches lost some of their sag.
The Team, joined now by an Ogre, another unicorn, and several fairies, rushed towards the towering solid granite rock-face that marked the boundary of The Land. Without a pause, they all plunged into the solid rock. The Team was whisked along rapidly through the rock by their powerful friends.
The thick glowing tube they had followed the night before through the mountain was now almost too bright to look at as they streaked along it towards the outside world. It was only at this point that Bates realized that the tube was actually a gigantic root of the One-Tree, along which now surged enormous energy from The Land.
For one terrifying moment the root blinked as the dome had earlier, and they all seemed to freeze motionless in the darkness. Bates could feel the rock of the mountain solidifying around and within him. It was a frightening sensation, accompanied as it was by the realization that they could easily all end up dead and frozen permanently inside the mountain. A moment later however, they were once again whisking through the mountain with desperate speed.
Only a few seconds after their strange trip began, the group abruptly popped out of the rock near the trunk of the big Utah Aspen that they all now knew to be part of the One Tree.
The air was hot and tinged with smoke, and singed leaves fell to the ground all around them by the thousands. Looking up, the entire sky seemed to be filled with the titanic Mother Ship of the Ra. The ship glowed and throbbed like a huge, overpowered florescent light bulb as it hung motionless in the sky. As Bates watched, the air around the ship suddenly shimmered and a five-meter wide plasma beam shot out from the ship towards the Bus, which still sat as they had left it, apparently unharmed. When the beam reached a scant dozen meters from the Bus it suddenly began to fragment and spread out over a momentarily visible barrier that extended over both the tree and the Bus.
The noise of this artificial lightning was so defining it knocked Bates and his fellow humans off their feet, and a new shower of singed Aspen leaves fluttered to the ground under the Tree. A continuous plasma beam now struck down towards the Bus, a beam that surged a-periodically with, bright, thunderous blasts.
"What should we do?" shouted Mel.
"We can't lose the Bus!” Bates shouted back. "We'd never manage the mission without it. Flood! Can we fire back at them?”
"We can try," said Flood.
"To the Bus!” shouted Bates, and the Team ran towards the besieged Bus, while Pru and her people remained huddled around the Tree.
The Team must have been seen by the Ra, because now another plasma blast struck down towards those that were running towards the Bus. This beam was also stopped by the barrier from the One Tree, but the impact of the blast against the protective force-field still knocked Team members off their feet.
Not counting Milo, Flood reached the Bus first, and he immediately began to power up all Bus systems. "Our shields are up," announced Norma. "But that's just emergency back-up for what the Tree is providing. I don't think that our Bus shields or deteriorating plastic armor would last for a moment in that Ra plasma beam.”
"When can we fire on them?" asked Bates.
"I'm not sure that we can," said Norma. "The Tree's shield might prevent it."
"I'll ask Pru," said Gus. The little ex-biologist closed his eyes in concentration. Bates 'heard' nothing in his head; maybe he was too far away from Pru, but Gus seemed to actually communicate with The People.
"Norma is right," announced Gus, after a few seconds. "If you fire now, you'll just be helping the Ra to blast through the Tree's shield. But if Pru drops the Tree's field, with the Ra's beam still on, we'll all be cinders in seconds. Oh, and Pru asks if we know how long the Ra can keep this up. Pru thinks that the Tree's field can hold for another 10 or 20 minutes tops.”
"I have no idea," said Carbuncle. "I don't even know how their ship is powered."
"We know," said Wink, standing next to the nodding Kronan. "Based on our knowledge of the usual Ra space craft design, Krog and I estimate that the Ra ship could continue this attack continuously for approximately sixty Earth years."
Bates started to say 'Fudge Winkies', but just then another plasma surge from the Ra ship burst over the Bus and everyone was knocked off their feet again.
"What if we just make a break for it?" asked Barns.
"Wink!” said Flood. "How fast can the Ra ship travel in the atmosphere, and how well can it maneuver?”
"It can probably travel only ten times the speed of sound when in your atmosphere; and it can accelerate to that in perhaps five of your seconds.”
"Damn!” responded Flood. "That's out then! We can't out-run them, but we can't just sit here either and wait for them to burn through to us!”
"Not only that, lad," added Gus. "It's not just the Bus and its mission at stake. Perhaps that ship could turn its ray on The Land itself and turn the whole thing to cinders once they overpower the defense of The One Tree."
"Well then," said Bates, "we somehow have to go on the offensive, it's our only hope.”
Pru and her countrymen must have came to the same conclusion, because suddenly the Ogre stepped away from the tree, picked up a huge boulder, and flung it at the Ra ship! Amazingly, it struck the ship with enough impact to actually disrupt the Ra attack; the ship shuttered slightly, and the plasma beam stopped. Those in the Bus and under the Tree cheered, but the disruption was only momentary. When the attack resumed, only a small beam was directed at the Bus, while the major beam was now directed at the One Tree. The Ra had correctly deduced that destruction of the Tree would ensure destruction of all else.
The ogre heaved a second boulder up at the attackers, but this one was blasted to bits by a separate plasma beam before it could reach the ship. Several others stepped out from the tree, including Pru, who pointed her horn at the ship. At first, nothing seemed to happen. But then the Bus onlookers noticed that the barely visible surface of the Tree’s protective force field seemed to be reaching out towards the ship like a gigantic hand! Sure enough, the ship suddenly lurched away by several hundred meters, as though it had been given a mighty push. At the same time, the Ogre hurled a third boulder. This one got through and struck the ship. Once again the effect was only temporary, though it was several seconds before the Ra resumed their attack on the Bus and the One Tree.
"I've got an idea!” said Bates. "We need to coordinate our attack with that of Pru. If they can get the Ra to stop the plasma beam for a few seconds again, Pru could drop the One Tree's field that protects the Bus for a few seconds while we fire. Gus, could Pru
"Yes Dr. Bates," pathed Pru. This time, Pru, the Ogre, a Giant, and the Bus struck almost simultaneously. However, the laser and plasma blasts from the Bus were pitifully weak compared to the attack of the Ra, and appeared to do no damage at all to the massive space ship.
They repeated their coordinated attack again and again, each time only delaying what increasingly seemed would be inevitable defeat. Three ogres and two giants were now hurling boulders, but the Ra ship was simply too powerful; most of the boulders were blasted to dust before they reached the ship, while the few that got through appeared to do no lasting damage.
Meanwhile, the Ra ship attacked tirelessly. Blackened leaves by the thousands rained from the One Tree, and The People grew weary providing energy, directing the protective shield, and throwing boulders. The Ra plasma blasts were starting to break through. The Bus's shield was strong enough to stop the weakened beams that struck it, but the top of the Tree actually caught fire!
A huge blast suddenly struck Pru, who was standing apart from the others. She was surrounded in glowing plasma for several seconds. However, when the blast was at last contained by the One Tree field, Pru still stood as before, white and flawless, apparently completely unharmed. The onlookers marveled. Elementals are certainly sturdy folk! Suddenly a blue beam of light shot from the unicorn’s horn and struck the Ra ship a mighty blow, blasting it back several meters and causing it to shutter. Pru had apparently absorbed some of the energy from the Ra ray and shot it back at them! Perhaps in response, the Ra redirected all attentions to the Tree and Bus.
The giants threw great handfuls of snow at the fire in the Tree in a desperate attempt to extinguish it. Soon the flames were out, but the tree still smoldered, filling the air with choking black smoke, and the plasma blasts once again were forcing their way towards the top of The Tree. Flood flew the Bus up next to The Tree top and reshaped the Bus shield to protect it as well as the Bus, while Pru reinforced the One Tree's protective field. As a result, the plasma blast was pushed a few meters further from the Tree. But everyone knew it wouldn't work for very long.
"We have no choice," said Bates. "We have to try to make a run for it. Maybe they'll simply chase us and at least let The Land survive!”
"Take Fen and myself with you," pathed Pru. "We can help protect the Bus.” The Bus landed and opened its doors, and Pru and Fen leapt aboard. Though the unicorn appeared immaculate as ever, Fen was covered with soot, and the foul air that came aboard with them was hot and smoky and smelled of death. They each positioned themselves in the isle behind Bates. Under Pru's silent direction several giants jointly threw a gigantic boulder at the ship. The Ra tried to blast it, but it was protected by an extension of the One Tree's protective shield until it reached the ship. With a crash that was heard even inside the Bus, the great Mother Ship was rocked by the blow, and the plasma streams stopped once again.
At that moment, Flood started humming The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and the Bus shot up past the wobbling Ra space ship at full throttle. As they swept passed it, the Bus blasted away with lasers and plasma beams at the point that had just been struck by the boulder, and they were rewarded by an answering flash; perhaps an internal explosion.
They had wounded her! Bates would have shouted for joy, but the breath had already been knocked from him by the Bus's acceleration. However, he did hear someone shout 'Geronimo' loudly, and turned his head to find a grinning Goyahkla perched by his side! The famous Indian warrior seemed to be thoroughly enjoying this terrifying experience. And why not? He was already safely dead.
Flood had the Bus at full throttle for the first time. Everyone was knocked back in their seats, helpless, with the exception of Flood, who continued humming, Goyahkla, who was now chanting in Apache and beating tom-toms that had materialized in his hands, and Pru and Fen, who stood unaffected in the isle, as though ten-G acceleration was the most natural thing in the world to them.
They leveled off at 4000 meters and shot east towards Colorado. Flood hoped to lose their pursuers among the jagged peaks of the Rocky Mountains, and soon they were dodging through ragged snow-capped peaks at breakneck speed.
"Bandit at nine O-clock high," cried Carbuncle, who had remembered to take her motion sickness pills and was in fighting form. Sure enough, there was the Ra ship, trailing a thin stream of smoke, but still out-flying the Bus as it closed in rapidly for the kill. Flood banked right sharply around a towering granite peak, but the Ra ship shot over the top of the peak and reappeared in front of them.
Flood flew straight at and then under the Ra ship, hoping to get in too close for it to fire, but the tactic failed. The Bus windshields darkened instantly, but the brief plasma blast that swept them still nearly blinded everyone in the Bus. The Bus was rocked but was still flying. Bates looked in back of him and saw that Pru and Fen were both glowing bluish for a few moments. Exactly what they had done, he wasn't sure, but they must have absorbed some of the blast themselves, somehow helped to deflect it, or both. In any case, with the help of Pru and Fen the Bus had evidently just survived a full plasma blast.
Flood popped off his visor. His VR visor capability was gone; the plasma blast had destroyed the optical and infrared detectors that fed it. He would have to pilot using raw visual. And pilot he did, whipping around another icy peak at impossible speed!
Suddenly, the Ra ship was beside them. Flood tried to shoot up over it, and he let loose a laser blast that hit it dead center. But the feeble Bus laser again had no apparent effect, and the Ra ship matched their maneuver almost perfectly as it shot another massive plasma blast of its own.
As before, the singed Bus was rocked but remained flying. Pru and Fen again glowed brilliantly, but this time the little Pan goat-man sunk to his knees, and even the unicorn was unsteady on her feet. Somehow they were protecting the Bus, but were reaching the limit of their powers.
As Flood dove through a narrow canyon, he stopped humming and turned to look Bates in the eyes. Bates didn't need to be telepathic to know what he was thinking. Another blast or two and they would all be dead.
There was only one thing to do.
Bates nodded his head grimly. "Let's take them with us if we can, Commander," he said. Flood resumed his humming as he blasted straight up one more time at full acceleration. As he anticipated, the Ra were taken by surprise; the Bus was kilometers above them by the time they turned upwards in pursuit.
Bates turned and twisted around in his seat to look back towards the row of seats behind his. Returning his stare were Mel and Janet, his best friend and his once and only true love. He slipped his left arm out of its restraints and reached back towards Janet, who reached forward to grasp his hand tightly in return.
A thousand thoughts were rushing through his mind. How he and the Team had failed the mission. How he had failed at his life. How he had failed all life on Earth. The Earth as they knew it would come to an end in less than four days, but within moments they, the last hope for Earth, would die. They would try to take these Ra with them, but that would be an almost meaningless gesture. Earth would still be destroyed by Dannos.
Strangely enough though, with the entire Earth facing destruction, what he regretted most at that moment was not being with Janet these last twenty years. Lost, wasted years. And looking now into her sad eyes, he thought that he sensed that she also had regrets, though he couldn't be sure.
Then, incredibly, he watched her silently mouth the words ‘I love you’! The amazement must have shown on his face, but she nodded her head, squeezed his hand tighter, and actually smiled!
And Bates smiled back. Nothing could negate this moment, he knew, not even death. His had been a good life after all!
Aided by gravity Flood started his power dive towards the rapidly rising Ra ship. He would try to surprise the Ra one last time. He wandered if the Ra had learned the game of 'chicken' during their study of human culture. If not, he would teach them now.
The Ra ship shuttered, but continued up towards the Bus. Flood continued his power dive, but by now had already changed his tactical plan. Instead of trying to ram the Ra ship, he would blast it as he swept by it! Meanwhile the newcomer paced the Ra, blasting away as it went. The blasts appeared to be very powerful, much like those that the Ra ship itself produced.
As the Bus drew nearer, Flood confirmed the identity of the new ship, and got on the radio. "George? Is that you?" he asked.
"Affirmative!” came the reply, over the radio. "This is Millennium Falcon, at your service, Commander!”
This time Flood himself yelled 'Geronimo', as he dove into the attack!
Bates, though he still held on to Janet's hand, returned his attention to the battle after hearing the unexpected exchange over the radio, and was amazed to see a new ship blasting at the Ra, a ship that bore a striking resemblance to one that had appeared in an old science fiction flick of several decades earlier. Seconds later, as the Bus swept past the Ra and sent out a blast of its own, he saw a thick plasma blast strike the Falcon squarely, but it seemed to do no harm. He wondered if the newcomers also had a unicorn on board.
However, the Ra ship was also not seriously harmed by the weapons used on it, for it still mostly ignored the Falcon, and was rapidly gaining on the Bus! As it came closer, it blasted the Bus from behind. The Bus shuddered, and Pru, dazed and glowing brightly, dropped to her knees on the floor next to Fen. She had contained the blast, but just barely!
With or without Pru's aid, one more blast would do it. Flood maneuvered violently, but the Ra ship stayed with his every move. Another blast from the Falcon struck the Ra ship, but with no apparent effect.
Bates held his breath. Any second now! One more blast from the Ra and they would all be toast. It would soon be all over. He again squeezed Janet’s hand tightly.
Abruptly, the Ra ship disappeared from the rear-view screen of Flood's console. "Shit, George!” swore Flood uncharacteristically, as he rapidly swung the Bus around.
Bates didn't understand what he was seeing at first; everything was different. Where was the Ra ship? Where was the Falcon? Outside, explosions lit the sky and rocked the Bus, and the air was filled with smoke and many flaming pieces of something falling towards the ground far below. "Was that the Ra ship?" he asked Flood.
"Damn it!” replied Flood angrily again, as he stabilized the flight of the Bus. Then he let out a deep sigh. "Yes, it was the Ra ship. But it was also the Falcon.”
Flood replayed the recorded rear-view in slow-motion, while everyone on the Bus had their eyes glued to a VISICOM. Sure enough, there was the image of the Falcon, barreling into the Ra ship, closing with it at Mach two or more. The Falcon had done exactly what Flood had planned to do only a minute earlier, and paid the ultimate price.
After a few moments of silence, Flood took another deep breath, wiped a tear away, and turned to Bates. "Where to, boss?" he asked in a quiet voice.
"Back to the One Tree for a short rest-stop, Commander," replied Bates wearily. "Then we'll be moving on. We have a mission to complete."
****