Chapter 352 (1/2)
The day was warm, with warm breezes coming in from the coast. The sky was a smooth and comfortable amber, the three moons silently moving across the sky. The bluish grass was waist high on the tallest of the dozen young female humans walking to the top of the hill, the youngest only visible by the top of her head appearing and disappearing in the grass.
The tallest got to the top of the hill and made a motion.
The other girls vanished into the grass.
She lifted up a pair of macro-binoculars, scanning below her.
The spaceships were all damaged. Some were little more than carbonized wreckage, others had only been 'slightly' damaged by being broken in half or their wings snapped off or one end smashed into junk. The plascrete tarmac was pocked and pitted with craters. The terminal windows were all shattered, the control towers had collapsed and burned. Ground cars and hovercars were scattered around, all of them damaged to one degree or another.
She knelt down so she was barely visible, scanning around the spaceport.
The city was heavily damaged. Burned ground cars, crashed hover-vehicles all littered the streets, the parking lots, and smashed into the buildings. Plas-sheets stirred around in the wind, windows were broken open, some buildings had burned, and most of the skyscrapers had collapsed.
The decayed remains of people and invaders were scattered around.
She focused the macro-binoculars on one body, unsure if it was the shadows or a trick of the light.
It was a man in business apparel, missing both legs. As the girl, and she was a young teenage girl, watched the figure lifted itself up and gave a wordless cry of hunger that the girl couldn't hear. The side of his face was charred from a plasma hit, his teeth crooked, his skin yellowish. Blackish fluid leaked from his nose and mouth.
The man collapsed back down on the ground, face first, going still.
”Deaders,” the girl said softly.
”Stupid deaders,” a girl said. She was dressed in rough homespun pants, a rough shirt, and wearing two different boots. Her hair was held back by a bandanna from her forehead and woven into a braid down her back.
”How many?” a third girl asked. She had on pants, a vest, a backpack, a hat, boots, and a belt-pack pulled around to the front. As she spoke she undid the pressure seal on the belt-pack and opened the pack.
”Not sure. Only see one right now,” the tallest girl said. ”Wait, I see another one. Stuck under a car. Looks like most of them didn't survive the winter.”
The third girl opened the pack far enough for several small doll-like figures to emerge, wings on their back buzzing. They circled her as she sealed the pack again.
”See more deaders than people lately,” the bandanna girl said. She looked over at the girl surrounded by the dozen or so little dolls. ”How's their charge?”
”OK,” the girl said. ”I'll send them out to scout the starport.”
”Make sure they stay away from Lankys and people. We don't have many left,” the oldest girl said.
The one with the pack nodded as the smallest walked up. She had on boots with plas-sheets crumpled up and stuffed inside. ”People all gone. Just us and deaders,” a young girl said, pulling her thumb out of her mouth. She went back to sucking her thumb, holding onto a leash with her other hand.
”Think there's a working ant hive down there?” another girl asked. She was holding a Great Herd plasma pistol in one hand, the side open with wires sticking out of it.
”Think so. Lots of custom template shops, looks like some vehicle repair shops, plus the starships,” the tall girl said. ”We might be able to find supplies.”
”Well, if it goes sideways, we got Mister Beepy,” another girl said, jerking her thumb toward the girl who was sucking her thumb and staring at the grass around her. The thumb sucker nodded.
”All right. Let's go. Keep your eyes open, we don't want to get pushed against the wall like we did in Kumbah Bay,” the tall one said. She stood up again, shading her eyes and squinting. ”At least this city has power.”
”For now,” one of the girls grunted, smacking her hands together to knock the dirt off. She stood up, wincing, and limped after the leader.
The girls got up and started down the hill, angling toward the spaceport.
”Just another day,” the tallest one said.
”In Paradise,” the others answered back.
------------------
The girls spent the day skirting the spaceport, looking down the streets and broken mag-lev tracks for any sign of a threat. When dark came they backed off, climbing inside a cargo truck and shutting the door. The one with the pack gave a sharp whistle and let the little winged fairies return to the pack.
”All of them come back?” the oldest asked.
The girl nodded. She tapped the dataslate hanging from a thong on her belt. ”It'll take a while to see what they found. The 'slate's slow.”
The eldest girl just nodded.
The one with a limp sat down, leaning against a crate marked 'SUPERSTRING COMPRESSOR BUFFER SPRING SHOCK CLAMPS”, and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a small case with the words ”Warm Aura Holistic Medical Center' on it. She popped it open, revealing it was half full of quick-poke syringes. She tugged one out, put it in her mouth, and pulled out another.
”Two tonight?” the eldest asked.
The one with the limp nodded, snapping the case closed and putting it back in her pocket. She stripped the caps off each, injecting them into the crook of her elbow, then leaned back, sighing.
”You need to eat, Mimi,” the eldest said.
”Leave me alone, Didi. My leg hurts,” the girl, Mimi, said, closing her eyes. ”I got shot, remember?”
”You can eat or I'll beat you up,” Didi said, crossing her arms. ”Or I'll stomp on your leg again.”
Mimi sighed and looked over to where the thumb sucker was kneeling, a small nutri-forge held tight between her knees. She was pouring water into it.
”I'm tired of forge food,” she said. She shuddered and her pupils dialated. ”Oh, that's the stuff,” she gave a long sigh, her eyelids heavy. ”At least Neenee isn't peeing in it so we can eat.”
”We were hungry,” the thumbsucker snapped, her eyes hard. ”You weren't helping, just getting high all the time.”
”I got shot,” the girl said softly, her head lolling to the side. ”Ooh, that's better.”
”She's not going to eat,” the one with the bandana said, wrinkling her nose.
”Let her sleep,” Didi said, looking at the one with the pack. ”Do the night fairies still work, Cindi?”
The girl with the pack shook her head. ”No. They're still tired. I think the battery is almost dead.”
Didi sighed. ”All right. Neenee, put Mister Beepy on watch. We'll eat and get some rest.”
Neenee pulled her thumb out of her mouth and nodded, climbing out of the back of the cargo lifter.
The little nutri-forge put out small breakfasts, it's internal clock off. The girls ate, then all huddled up, sharing two tattered emergency blankets. They all curled up together in, one of the middle sized ones staying awake, and went to sleep. One by one they woke each other up to stand guard.
When morning came they gathered around the small nutri-forge, attaching a new battery with a faded and scraped case to it. The holographic interface seemed worn and tired as they each ordered up something for breakfast from the lunch menu, since the nano-forges clock was out of synch with the actual time.
Once they had eaten, they peeked outside the truck, then quickly moved from the truck to the grass and vegetation that had sprung up around the ruined suburb that had grown up around the starport. The buildings were flattened, overgrown by grass and shrubs in the time since The End had come.
The littlest girl took her thumb out of her mouth and gave a sharp whistle, shaking a leash. Her pet ran up, frolicking in the morning sun, and waited until she put the leash on it. It obediently followed her into the grass, happy to see her again. The solar collectors on the side were dusty and she took the time to wipe them off.
The sun was high in the sky when the oldest two ran out of the grass, running up to the fence. The younger of the two pulled a hand held plasma cutter out of her pocket, the case marked with the symbol of the Great Herd, and used it to slice an opening through the chain-link fence.
They ran back and hid in the grass.
After a period of time they slowly moved out of the grass, in a cluster where they kept bumping into each other and staggering. It was a strange way to move, as if their joints weren't quite put together right. The oldest held open the chain link fence while the others moved through.
Mister Beepy went last and the oldest one, Didi, reached down and scratched him lightly before waving him through. Mister Beepy beeped happily and hurried to catch up the youngest girl, who held the retractable leash in the hand that wasn't attached to her mouth.
They moved in the weird clustered group, starting to make 'urrr' and 'rawr' noises at odd times, until they reached one of the starships that the engines had been smashed and burned. The one with the fairies, Cindi, opened her pack and the fairies swirled around for a moment before swooping into the wreck.
”They're getting tired, Didi,” Cindi said sadly.
”I'm just glad they've lasted as long as they have,” Didi said. ”We're lucky we found the Hidenseekinbells in that shop.”
Cindi nodded. They all huddled up, watching, until the fairies came back. Cindi lifted up the dataslate, watching it slowly go through the data. The little robots were designed to look for children, map rooms, play games, and find things.
They also rarely lasted longer than a few months.
”No power,” Cindi said sadly.
”I don't wanna go in a dark ship,” one of the girls said quietly.
”We aren't gonna,” Didi said. ”Let's move on. Keep an eye out for any deaders waking up.”
The group moved from ship to ship, the fairies searching inside each time.
On the sixth check Cindi looked up. ”This one had power.”
”All right. Cindi will give everyone a map. We'll split up in groups of two. Neenee, you stay out here with Mister Beepy,” she said.
Mister Beepy barked happily.
The girls moved into the starship, which looked scorched, dented, and battered.
Didi was trying to open the door marked ”Galley” when she heard it. The low curious moan of a deader that had seen movement or heard a sound that it hadn't heard before.
Amee put one finger to her lips, her eyes hidden by her mirrorshades, holding up a Confederate Army magac pistol. Her wrists were braced with medical braces that were drawn on with colored markers.
The deader, a crewman in a jumpsuit, staggered around the corner. Amee lowered the pistol, leveling it with the deader's chest, and checked her ammo counter.
6.
She stuck her tongue out and held it between her teeth and pressed the firing stud.
KRA-THWAK!
The entire upper half of the deader exploded into mist, the legs standing up for a moment before folding up and landing on the floor.
The two girls listened closely for any other movement as Amee waved the pistol around, letting the overheated mag-coils cool. The heat shroud around the pistol's barrel smoked, thick black smoke, for a few moments.
”Should be OK,” Didi said. She checked her own pistol, a Lanky stun-gun she'd hotwired. It had half a charge and she had one more charge brick in her pocket. She opened the door slowly, looking in.
There were only tables and benches and chairs, all scattered around. The lights popped and hissed, flashing on and off.
”Look, food forge,” Amee said.
”I see it. Watch my butt,” Didi said. She moved into the room, keeping to the side, watching the corners, watching any openings. She reached the food-forge and pressed her thumb against the menu.
The food forge pinged and the menu popped up.
”Mass tanks are at 90%,” Didi said, sagging slightly in relief. ”We can eat something besides snacks.”
She turned and looked around. ”Let's find the others. We'll sweep the ship, turn on the power, and barricade the airlock. Tomorrow we'll search the concourse.”
Amee nodded, looking around. Her mirrorshades let her see as if it was daytime.
A half hour later found them at the airlock. Didi did a quick count and sighed.
”Where's Mimi?” she asked. She looked at Hawnee. ”You were with her.”
”She said she was going to stay on the bridge. It has power,” Hawnee said. The lights buzzed and flickered.
”She's probably stoned,” one of the girls said.
”Go out and tell Neenee we're going to stay in her tonight and Mister Beepy can come in. We'll plug him in and get his charge back up,” Didi said. She oriented herself, checking the map the fairies had made that she had stored in her datalink.
She moved carefully, keeping an eye on the doors and other corridors.
The ship had been searched, but it wouldn't be the first time a deader had come shambling out of the darkness and killed someone even after the area had been searched.
Mimi was sitting slumped in the Captain's chair, her legs straight out. The medpack had fallen off the arm of the chair, spilling the stickers onto the floor. Mimi was breathing slow and steady, her face pale, dark circles around her eyes.
There were three stickers in her lap, empty, and the crook of her elbow was slightly swollen.
Didi put her hand on her shooter, wrapping her long fingers with chipped nails around the butt as she stared at Mimi. Her face hardened and she started to draw the pistol from the holster.
”Is she stoned again?” Winni asked from the hatchway.
Didi let go of the pistol, turning around and shaking her head. ”Blasted.”
”She's going to overdose, Didi,” Winni said. ”We'll wake up and she'll have taken a bite out of someone's butt,” the eleven year old looked at Didi, her face serious. ”You know it, I know it, everyone knows it.”
Mimi shifted on the chair slowly and passed gas, not opening her eyes. At least Didi hoped the other girl had just farted. A few times in the last month she'd actually fudged her panties and had been stoned enough she'd just sat in them.
”We'll worry about that when it happens,” Didi said. She started walking out, Winni following her.
”You could have shot her, I wouldn't have said anything,” Winni said softly.
The thought didn't horrify Didi like it would have a year ago.
”Never mind. Let's get some rest. I want to finish searching the ships by lunch tomorrow.”
------------------
Didi walked out of the destroyed freighter. The mass tanks were almost full, in contrast to the mass tanks on the tramp steamer they were hiding in. The tanks on their home were still attached to the hoses they had been using to refill, the other end of the hoses melted and torn from where they had been attached to a refueling truck that had been destroyed.
Neenee was playing with Mister Beepy, throwing a large stick that the robot ran over and picked up then trotted back with.
Pauli moved over next to Didi. ”You know, the House might still be spaceworthy,” she said. She was twisting the mag-coils on the end of her pistol's barrel, a habit she'd gotten into months ago.
”I know,” Didi said. She shaded her eyes, watching Neenee throw the stick again. ”Dammit.”
”What?” Pauli asked, looking. ”She's watching out. See, she saw us.”
”I told Mimi to stay with her,” Didi said. She sighed. ”Come on, it wasn't that hard of a job.”
”Neenee and Mimi don't like each other,” Pauli reminded Didi unnecessarily.
”I don't care. I told them to stay together,” Didi said. She hurried across the plascrete.
A buzzing sound started, getting closer.
All of the girls ran for cover, hiding, crouched down and looking up at the sky.
A drone, the sound baffling long ago ruined, wobbled in the air. The buzzing noise quit and it leveled out.
Didi lifted up her macro-binoculars, staring at the drone.
”Grownups?” Pauli asked, fiddling with the mag-coils on her pistol.
”No. Lanky,” Didi said.
The drone shimmered as the camo-system came back on.
”I thought all the Lankys were dead,” Pauli said. She lifted up her pistol, staring at where the drone had been. ”I see it.”
”Take it out. Hopefully they haven't seen much,” Didi said. She sighed. ”I don't want to leave.”
”I want off this planet,” Pauli said. She exhaled, relaxed, and tapped the trigger.
The plasma pistol shrieked, the magnetic stabilization coils sparking and screaming. The plasma bolt hit the drone, exploding in a blaze of white and yellow. Pieces of the drone fell from the sky as Pauli blew on the smoking coils.
”They know we're here now,” Didi said. She started walking to where Neenee was sitting next to Mister Beepy, petting his long nose. She stopped next to Neenee, who looked up, sucking her thumb.
”How's Mister Beepy?” Didi asked, crouching down.
”Tired,” Neenee said, pulling her thumb from her mouth. ”He feels better now that we played.”
”We might have Lankys here soon,” Didi said. She reached out and brushed Neenee's hair away from the girl's datalink.
The case was missing, exposing the electronics.
”How about my Neenee, how is she?” Didi asked.
Neenee smiled. ”I'm OK. I want to leave.”
”I know, sweetie, I want to leave too,” Didi said.
”When we leave, can I get a new Mommy and Daddy?” Neenee asked, her blue eyes wide.
Didi swallowed at the sight that one of the girl's cybereyes was cracked.
”Yes, Neenee. When we're safe, I'll make sure you get a new mommy and daddy,” Didi promised, part of her feeling like it was a lie.
They were never going to get off the planet.